Recently released body camera footage shows the moment that a Texas National Guardsman was captured while allegedly smuggling an illegal immigrant to the Southern border.
Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and Kinney County sheriff’s deputies can be seen in the footage stopping Specialist Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, 26, and dragging him from his vehicle after leading police on a high-speed chase in his government-issued SUV, the New York Post reported.
During the chase on Sunday, police say that Johnson reached speeds of over 100 mph. After he was apprehended, he was arrested and charged with evading arrest, smuggling of persons, and unlawful carry of a weapon.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe shared with NewsNation Now that the chase started when Johnson turned after he approached a Border Patrol checkpoint off Highway 674. He allegedly started to flee after agents attempted to stop him.
It was then that the pursuit began, and Texas DPS officers ended up using spike strips to get the SUV to come to a stop.
The illegal immigrant jumped out and fled the scene, but eventually, he gave himself up and was later processed by the Border Patrol, NewsNation reported.
“We don’t know what’s going on in their lives to make them do this,” Coe told the outlet. “But they’re going to get caught.”
A spokesman for Gov. Gregg Abbott shared a statement about the incident with Fox News, sharing that if the allegations were true, the National Guardsman “is a traitor and criminal.”
“We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve. The accused’s illegal smuggling may subject him to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 10 years. He deserves more,” he added.
The Texas Military Department has not yet commented on the situation.