U.S. Drops Charges for 5 Aliens in Van

U. S. prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges Friday against five undocumented immigrants from El Salvador who were inside a van last month when a Border Patrol agent opened fire on the vehicle, wounding two passengers.

The five had been charged with illegal entry into the United States, a federal misdemeanor, but authorities said the charges were filed only in an effort to have the men available for investigators.

FBI agents have interviewed the witnesses and are continuing their investigation, said Larry Burns, the assistant U. S. attorney handling the case.

William Braniff, U. S. attorney in San Diego, declined to provide any additional details about the matter, other than to confirm that the inquiry is continuing and that charges have been dropped against the five men, who were released Friday.

The federal investigation is focusing on the appropriateness of the response by the Border Patrol agent. The officer, approaching the vehicle on foot from behind, fired at the vehicle--which agents suspected was smuggling illegal aliens--as it accelerated forward from a stop, according to police accounts.

Any prospective action by the U. S. attorney’s office would have to be taken under federal statutes, which include a broad range of laws aimed at protecting the civil rights of civilians from abuse by authorities and others.

Misdemeanor charges of entering the United States illegally, filed against a sixth passenger, Lilian Pineda, are expected to be formally dropped Monday, said Burns, the assistant U. S. attorney. Pineda, a 24-year-old mother of three, is a Salvadoran citizen who has filed for political asylum in the United States, according to her attorney, Jan Bejar of San Diego.

Pineda was struck in the right arm by a bullet fired by the patrol agent. Another passenger, Francisco Ricardo Carbajal Cuenca, a 16-year-old Mexican youth, is recovering from a bullet wound in the neck.

The incident occurred along the right shoulder of the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 during the predawn darkness of May 25. The van, packed with at least 11 people, including a 12-year-old Salvadoran girl, was stopped for an immigration check by a Border Patrol sedan at a point about 6 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Patrol guidelines, like those of other police agencies, specify that officers may use lethal force only when they believe their lives or the lives of others are in danger.

Police found that the agent fired because he perceived that the driver of the van might have planned to throw the vehicle into reverse, posing a threat to the approaching agent and his partner, according to Lt. Dean Girdner of the Chula Vista Police Department, which investigated the case and turned the results of its inquiry over to the FBI. Contrary to the officer’s stated fear, Girdner said, the van definitely never headed backward.

The officer’s apparent goal, Girdner said, was to stop the van by blowing out its tires. However, none of the three bullets fired from his .357 Magnum service revolver struck a tire; all three pierced the rear of the vehicle, which had been stolen an hour earlier from a San Diego street. No weapon was found inside the van, Girdner said.

“He was fearful that the vehicle might come back at him,” Girdner said of the agent.

Border Patrol officials have refused to reveal the name of the officer. The agent, described only as a veteran officer in his 30s, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending several inquiries, according to agency officials.

The agent also faces an internal investigation by the Office of the Inspector General, an internal affairs agency within the U.S. Justice Department.