Mother of migrant killed during California Border Patrol chase files wrongful death suit

The mother of a passenger killed in a car crash that happened as the driver fled a Border Patrol agent in Otay Mesa is suing the federal government, alleging the agent was reckless in chasing the car on a busy highway.

Jesus Atenco Perez, 23, was in the backseat when the sedan slammed into a parked Caltrans vehicle on the shoulder of state Route 905 and flipped about 2:20 p.m. Oct. 22. He and a second passenger were killed. The driver, Sergio Josue Palomera of Chula Vista, was sentenced earlier this month to 71 months in prison for smuggling undocumented immigrants in a manner resulting in their deaths.

The suit, filed Thursday in San Diego federal court, alleges wrongful death and negligence claims against Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, and civil rights violations by the agent who chased the car. The agent’s full name is not supplied in the federal suit, filed by Atenco Perez’s mother, Yanett Perez Perez.

The federal agency declined to comment Friday, saying it “does not make public comments regarding matters before US courts. Official positions and arguments will be part of the court docket.”

Court documents in both the civil and criminal cases alleged that the crash was the second run-in Border Patrol agents had had that day with the distinctive car.

The first encounter happened during the morning of Oct. 22 after video surveillance picked up a group of people climbing the border fence in the area of the Customs Commercial Lot near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, according to the civil complaint.

One of the Border Patrol agents who responded spotted a silver Infinity sedan with a black hood leaving the area. The agent tried to block its path, but the sedan collided with the Border Patrol vehicle as it fled. The sedan got away. Its driver was not identified.

Several hours later, video surveillance spotted two people — a man later identified as Atenco Perez and a woman — climb the border fence in the same area, then slip into the backseat of a silver Infiniti sedan with a black hood.

A Border Patrol agent soon spotted the Infiniti headed west on SR-905. The agent noted that the sedan had damage to its passenger side, consistent with what the vehicle in the morning encounter had sustained. And although it was an Infiniti, its license plate was registered to a BMW, according to the probable cause statement in the criminal case.

The suit alleges that the morning incident motivated agents, who “exhibited heightened agitation and determination to apprehend the silver Infiniti at all costs.”

A sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors in the criminal case alleged that the agent turned on his overhead lights to pull over the sedan, which then got off the highway at Britannia Boulevard as if yielding. But then the driver hit the gas, ran a red light and jumped back on the highway. The agent navigated traffic and got back onto the highway, but soon lost sight of the sedan. As he was terminating the chase, the agent saw a large cloud of dust, prosecutors alleged.

The sedan struck a Caltrans vehicle parked on the shoulder of SR-905 and flipped. The female passenger died at the scene. Atenco Perez died later that day at a hospital.

The civil complaint alleges the chase “was conducted with reckless disregard” for the safety of backseat passenger Atenco Perez.

The civil suit also alleges the agent failed to consider several factors, including the high volume of traffic and the proximity to the busy border crossing, the presence of passengers, and Palomera’s “dangerous driving tactics.”