Agent reported hit, killed by fleeing vehicle in dunes

BY SARAH REYNOLDS, SUN STAFF WRITER

January 19, 2008 - 10:46AM

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed Saturday morning when he was struck by a vehicle as it fled law enforcement officers in the Imperial Sand Dunes.

The agent, who was stationed in the Yuma sector, was hit at about 9:30 a.m. near Gray's Well Road south of Interstate 8, according to Border Patrol representatives. The agent was laying spike strips across the road in an attempt to stop a Hummer vehicle that was fleeing pursuit.

Border Patrol officials believe the Hummer was driven by smugglers from Mexico.

Paramedics attempted to revive the agent at the scene but could not save him. Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jeremy Schappell, spokesman for the Yuma sector, said the driver escaped back to Mexico.

"Right now our Mexican liaison unit has contact with the Mexican authorities ... try and track these individuals down," Schappell said.

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Fallen BP agent identified

FROM STAFF AND AP REPORTS

January 20, 2008 - 11:01PM

The U.S. Border Patrol agent killed after being struck by a smuggling vehicle was identified Sunday as Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, a husband, father and six-year veteran of the agency.

Aguilar was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He came to the Yuma area to serve in the Border Patrol and lived here with his wife and two children.

"Today we mourn the loss of one of our own," Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar (no relation) said in a statement. "This serves as a tragic reminder of the dangers our agents face every day while securing our nation's border and our way of life."

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement on Aguilar's death as well, calling it a "heinous act" of increased violence in response to tougher border security.

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Hummer found burned; officials not sure if used in BP killing

BY CESAR NEYOY, BAJO EL SOL

January 21, 2008 - 12:39PM

Baja California police have recovered the burned remains of a Hummer and Ford pickup truck suspected of being used in a smuggling attempt that led to the death of a Yuma Border Patrol agent last weekend.

Residents on the west side of Mexicali, Baja Calif., found a Hummer in flames in their neighborhood about 3:30 p.m., police said, and a partially burned Ford pickup was located Sunday in Ejido Nayarit, a farming area south of Los Algodones.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was struck by a Hummer and killed Saturday morning while laying down spike strips in an effort to stop the vehicle in the Imperial Sand Dunes near Gray's Well Road.

Law enforcement officers suspected the Hummer and the pickup truck of smuggling drugs or illegal aliens, and were pursuing them on Interstate 8 when the vehicles turned into the dunes and fled toward Mexico.