A day after a sport-utility vehicle plowed through a group of migrants in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people, police officials identified the man behind the wheel as George Alvarez and said they were still trying to determine whether the crash was intentional.
Mr. Alvarez has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter, 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving, and is remaining behind bars, Chief Felix Sauceda of the Brownsville Police said on Monday.
Mr. Alvarez was seen on a video being pinned down on the ground by a group of people outside a homeless shelter that had been housing migrants, most them from Venezuela, after he tried to flee the scene of the crash. His gray Range Rover SUV struck about 20 people near a bus stop.
Chief Sauceda said the police were investigating reports that Mr. Alvarez had yelled anti-immigration epithets at the group. More criminal charges could be added, he said, if investigators determine that the crash was deliberate.
The police said they received reports of the crash at around 8:29 a.m. Sunday and found a gruesome scene when officers arrived. At least six people were already dead, and four more were badly injured and twisting in pain. Two of the injured later died, Chief Sauceda said.
Investigators said that Mr. Alvarez drove through a red light and appeared to lose control of his vehicle, which flipped on its side and struck at least 18 people, most of them men, Chief Sauceda said. He called it “a very tragic scene.”
The authorities in Brownsville were working with the Venezuelan consulate to identify victims and reunite them with loved ones, he said.
Mr. Alvarez is a resident of Brownsville who has long been known to the local authorities, Chief Sauceda said, adding that Mr. Alvarez had a record of numerous arrests on charges including driving while intoxicated, burglary of a vehicle, assault and theft among others.
The police said they were still trying on Monday to determine whether Mr. Alvarez was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The episode took place outside Ozanam Center, a shelter where a large number of migrants have arrived recently in anticipation of the end of Title 42, a rule imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic by the Trump administration to ease the expulsion of migrants crossing the border. Title 42, which came to be seen as a major impediment to seeking asylum in the U.S., is scheduled to expire this week.
Many Venezuelans have been leaving their native country and seeking asylum to escape poverty and government oppression.
Mr. Alvarez, who has been speaking to investigators in both English and Spanish, has refused to cooperate with investigators, officials said. He has given the police several different names and has not submitted to a breathalyzer test or fingerprinting, they said.
Edgar Sandoval
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