A U.S. Border Patrol agent was struck and severely injured Monday when a suspected drunken driver slammed into him at a federal checkpoint on Interstate 15 just south of Temecula.
Jaime Alejandro Garcia, 30, of San Bernardino was arrested and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit-and-run resulting in great bodily injury and DUI resulting in injuries. He’s being held in lieu of $75,000 bail.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Lassig, about 2:20 a.m., Border Patrol agents from the USBP Murrieta station were operating the checkpoint on northbound I-15 at Rainbow Valley Boulevard, along the boundary separating Riverside and San Diego counties.
Lassig said that an agent was standing within the checkpoint stop zone, in the middle of the No. 2 lane, when Garcia proceeded into the zone at 60 mph in his 2013 Mini Cooper, failing to slow for the agents.
The agent in the No. 2 lane was hit and “propelled up and over the Mini Cooper (and) landed on I-15 traffic lanes,” Lassig said.
“(Garcia) continued to drive his vehicle northbound on I-15,” the CHP spokesman said. “USBP agents caught up to the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop approximately one mile from the collision scene.”
The suspect was taken into custody without incident and immediately determined by CHP officers to be under the influence, Lassig alleged. Garcia’s passenger, 28-year-old Karen Vianey Devora of San Bernardino, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing law enforcement officers and booked into the Byrd Detention Center, where she’s being held on $5,000 bail.
The Border Patrolman struck by the Mini Cooper, whose identity was not released, was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar with major life-threatening injuries, Lassig said.
His condition Monday afternoon was unknown.
Northbound I-15 was shut down until 7 a.m. while an investigation was conducted, Lassig said.