George Alvarez, the 34-year-old suspect arrested in the crash that left eight dead and several others injured in Brownsville, Texas, on Sunday had an “extensive” criminal history, according to police.
During a press conference on Monday, Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda announced the identity of the suspect and said that in addition to being charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Alvarez also was “a Brownsville local with an extensive RAP sheet.”
Police then showed a photo of Alvarez and a list of his previous charges, which included aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a public servant, burglary of a vehicle, assault causing bodily injury, criminal mischief, driving while intoxicated, evading arrest, interference with public duties, possession of marijuana, and theft of property.
The announcement by police comes just one day after Alvarez drove his car into a bus stop near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, which is considered a border town, is located less than 5 miles from Matamoros, Mexico. Most of the victims were Venezuelan men.
“Yesterday was a tragic day in the City of Brownsville. A major accident took several lives and hospitalized multiple people,” the Brownsville Police Department said in a Facebook post on Monday.
According to the Associated Press, Victor Maldonado, the director of the shelter, said that the vehicle driven by Alvarez went up onto the curb hitting several individuals.
“This SUV, a Range Rover, just ran the light that was about 100 feet (30 meters) away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop,” Maldonado said after reviewing surveillance footage from the shelter.
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During the press conference on Monday, Sauceda said that shortly after driving into the bus stop, Alvarez attempted to flee the scene, “but was held down by several individuals.”
According to the AP, Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said on Sunday that police were still working to find a motive for the crash.
“It could be intoxication; it could be an accident; or it could be intentional. In order for us to find out exactly what happened, we have to eliminate the other two,” Sandoval said. “He’s being very uncooperative at the hospital, but he will be transported to our city jail as soon as he gets released.”
Newsweek reached out to the Brownsville Police Department via email for further comment.
Meanwhile in a tweet on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Public Affairs Assistant Secretary Marsha Espinosa said that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “has been briefed on the tragic situation in Brownsville and has reached out to local leaders to offer condolences and the full support of the Department.”
Brownsville has been an epicenter for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border. Last Thursday, the city officially extended its declaration of a local disaster.
“The declaration is to address the influx of migrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border, south of Brownsville. The declaration extension continues to proactively address the influx of crossings and to support and alleviate the process and transfer of migrants in a humanitarian way; while supporting federal agencies,” the city posted on its website.
The fatal crash comes as the Biden administration plans to lift the immigration regulation known as Title 42 on May 11. Former President Donald Trump invoked Title 42 in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, freeing U.S. authorities to expel migrants to their home country—or the country from which they most previously lived—without undergoing a formal asylum process.
Under Trump and President Joe Biden, more than 2 million people have been expelled from the U.S.-Mexico border using Title 42.
