Border Patrol Chase Lawsuit Ruling Near

A federal judge was asked Wednesday to decide if U.S. Border Patrol agents were negligent in pursuing a vehicle that slammed into another car and two pedestrians outside a Temecula high school, killing six people.

Attorneys for relatives of five of the victims contended that the government is largely responsible for the 1992 fatal crash and should pay millions in damages.

Government attorneys said the Border Patrol acted properly. The sole responsibility for the crash should be placed on the driver and an occupant of the fleeing truck carrying undocumented Mexican immigrants, they said.

The arguments came as attorneys wrapped up a weeklong civil trial before U.S. District Judge Linda H. McLaughlin. The judge did not say when she would issue her ruling.

Jesus Sandoval Macias, a 16-year-old Mexican national, was driving a Chevrolet Suburban that was first spotted June 2, 1992, by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents near the Mexican border in San Diego. It was later pursued by Border Patrol agents, who suspected it was being used to smuggle illegal immigrants into Riverside County via Interstate 15.

According to the trial testimony, Macias was speeding along the streets of Temecula about 65 mph when he ran a red light and sheared in half a sedan driven by John Davis, 46, who was taking his son, Todd Davis, 18, and friend Monisa Emilio, 14, to school. All three were killed.

The impact sent the Suburban skidding along a sidewalk, where it struck and killed 17-year-old Gloria Marie Murillo and her brother, 16-year-old Jose Murillo, as they were walking to school.

A sixth victim, Enicefero Vargas Gomez, 21, was one of 12 people inside the fleeing truck. He died later of injuries suffered in the crash. His family is not a party to the lawsuit.

Border Patrol agents Jose Renteria, the driver, and Craig Lane were not injured.

Macias was eventually convicted of six counts of second-degree murder.