DASHCAM VIDEO: 14 Illegals Pile Out of Car
Dashcam video captures 14 illegal immigrants piling out of a car and running from police. What was supposed to be a routine traffic stop turned out to be anything but. Fox 25?s Kisha Henry shows us why deputies think the unusual scene could become a lot more typical.
Sgt. Cody Palmer is the Canadian County Sheriff’s Deputy who made the stop. He says he’s seen a lot of things being transported across the interstate– narcotics, money loads, stolen property– but nothing like this.
“I’m driving eastbound on I-40,” says Sgt. Palmer, describing the scene. He says he pulled over the red Trailblazer with Alabama plates for following a semi too closely. “He’s so close, he’s less than a car-length’s distance,” says Sgt. Palmer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SF_Rh_KlYDo
"I go up and start talking to him, ask him for his license, insurance, everything," he says. He says the driver-- Jose Mascarena-Ayala handed over a Mexico-issued ID card. "He tells me he does not have an American license and he doesn't have his passport," says Sgt. Palmer. "He tells me they're coming from Amarillo and that he's been living there about a month." The driver told Sgt. Palmer that he and his family had just finished a roofing job and were headed back to Alabama. "There was no luggage, no tools, nothinig to go along with his story," says Sgt. Palmer. He says the passengers' stories didn't not match up with the driver's. "They just appeared to be.. terrified." Sgt. Palmer asked the driver and passengers to exit the vehicle and performed a search. That's when he realized just how many people were in the vehicle-- 14. "There was no luggage. There were bottles of urine in the back where literally they just go to the bathroom in these big jugs and they just keep driving down the road." Sgt. Palmer says the group seemed scared, but they fully complied with everything he asked of them. That is... until immigration officers arrived. Sgt. Palmer asked the group to load back into the vehicle because it was unsafe for them to all stand on the side of the road. He then took the driver back to his sheriff's vehicle and started doing paperwork while he waited for immigration officers to arrive. "They just scattered. 13 people running across the Interstate in front of cars (that were going) 70 -- 80-miles-an-hour," says Sgt. Palmer. "The driver takes off running from me. He gets out of my car and takes off running." After hours of help from multiple agencies, authorities tracked down 13 people, including the driver. One person is still at large. All are illegal immigrants. "People picture the U.S. -- Mexico border as being this big, secure fence... and truly, it's not," says Sgt. Palmer, who says the line for illegal immigration is moving further and further North. "It is literally in our backyard and it's happening right here in Oklahoma. We're going to start seeing a lot more of this." The driver-- Jose Mascarena-Ayala is actually banned from the U.S. for illegally transporting immigrants numerous times before. He now faces 13 new counts of human trafficking. The passengers will not face charges and will be transported back to their homes in Mexico.
Posted: Wednesday, November 28 2012, 09:25 PM CST
