One person died and two were seriously hurt Friday when a vehicle allegedly attempting to smuggle seven undocumented immigrants into the United States was involved in a rollover crash.
According to the El Centro Sector U.S. Border Patrol, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) received an emergency call at approximately 1:13 a.m. from a man who said that his vehicle rolled over in a crash during an attempt to smuggle undocumented immigrant into the country.
SDSO dispatchers provided Border Patrol agents with approximate GPS locations using cell tower triangulation, but they were unable to immediately locate the scene of the rollover.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter joined the search after the man made a second emergency call at 3:45 a.m. and was able to locate the vehicle inside of the Carrizo Wash three-and-a-half hours later at 7:22 a.m.
A total of 10 men were involved in the rollover. Three were lawful U.S. residents, four were adult citizens of Mexico, one was a juvenile citizen of Mexico and another an adult citizen of Brazil.
One of the adult Mexican citizens was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
One man was taken to the Border Patrol check point where a medevac was requested.
Local
Once on the scene, Border Patrol agents discovered footprints leading away from the crash site, and with the help of a CBP A-Star helicopter, were able to locate another man involved in the smuggling attempt.
