Border Agent Suspect Who Escaped Gives Up

A U.S. Border Patrol officer who escaped last month after being arrested on suspicion of smuggling an illegal alien across the border has surrendered, authorities said Sunday.

In a telephone interview, Border Patrol spokesman Wayne Kirkpatrick confirmed that Officer Martin Nava, 27, had been taken into custody at 1 a.m. Saturday and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego.

Kirkpatrick said Nava was arrested by federal marshals at the Chula Vista home of an unidentified friend, who is not a member of the Border Patrol force. He declined any further comment on the case until a news conference scheduled for this morning.

Nava was arrested on the evening of June 25 while driving a rented car along a farm road about three miles east of the Otay Mesa border crossing. Riding with the officer, who was off duty and out of uniform at the time, was an 18-year-old woman later described by authorities as a Mexican national.

After his arrest, Nava was detained at the Brown Field detention facility on suspicion of smuggling an alien into the United States. But three hours later, before he was formally charged, Nava escaped.

Officials refused to discuss how he managed to flee his cell at the holding facility, saying such details might compromise their internal investigation. Deputy Chief William Veal would only say that Nava was not aided by other Border Patrol officers and that several illegal aliens being detained in the same cell did not manage to escape.

Agents offered no theories on what might have motivated Nava to assist the woman, whose identity was withheld. They noted that the officer had maintained a clean record during the 16 months he had worked for the Border Patrol.

A single resident of Chula Vista, Nava had just completed the agency’s probationary period when he was arrested.