Smuggling suspect charged after man in trunk dies during Texas police chase, feds say
.jpg "David Valadaz of Laredo, Texas, was charged in the death of a man he was smuggling in a car trunk after a crash during a police chase, federal officials say.")
A suspected human smuggler was arrested after a man riding in his car died during a police chase in Texas, officials say.
David Valadaz, 27, was charged in the man’s death after leading a Texas trooper on a chase that ended with his Chevy Malibu crashing into the fence of a Laredo business in November, authorities say. The man concealed in the car trunk died from the crash, and two people in the front of the vehicle went to the hospital.
Valadaz told investigators he was paid $360 to drive the undocumented people from a human smuggling “stash house” to a location near a flea market in Laredo, authorities say. Knowing his license plate was expired and he could be stopped by law enforcement, Valadaz loaded one of the passengers in the trunk to avoid detection, according to court documents.
The two passengers who survived told investigators they are Mexican citizens who entered the U.S. by swimming across the Rio Grande, authorities say. Court documents don’t say whether they are related to the man who died.
The passenger who died was identified as Marco Antonio Martinez Torres.
Valadaz is charged with conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien causing death and three charges of transporting an undocumented alien causing death.
He could go to prison for life if convicted.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Smuggling suspect charged after man in trunk dies during Texas police chase, feds say."