Agencies busy with border jumpers

By Gentry Braswell
Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA — The nice weather this time of year brings about heavy illegal immigration traffic, and last weekend’s bright moonlight ushered in a few police car chases with illegal immigrants.

A vehicle disregarded an attempted Sierra Vista police traffic stop on Highway 92 eastbound Monday near the Mall at Sierra Vista, at about 1 a.m. The pursuit commenced east on Snyder Boulevard, across Avenida del Sol into the brush, according to a city police report summary.

About a dozen suspected illegal immigrants from the fleeing vehicle bailed out of the car once it went off the road, and U.S. Border Patrol personnel were contacted.

Less than an hour later, a Huachuca City police officer saw six northbound vehicles suspected of trafficking illegal immigrants, Chief Dennis Grey said. When his officer tried to stop one of the vehicles, the vehicles fled north, reaching speeds of perhaps 100 mph, Grey said.