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Fourteen returned to Mexico after van is derailed
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A van filled with about a dozen illegal immigrants heading from Agua Prieta, Mexico, to Phoenix was derailed by a group in a Jeep Cherokee reportedly brandishing handguns Friday outside of Florence, Pinal County authorities said Monday.
During the chase, the van driver turned around on state Highway 79 five miles north of Florence to head back to Florence when the vehicle’s left rear tire blew out, Pinal County sheriff’s spokesman Michael Minter said.
He lost control of the van, and the vehicle went off the road.
The van driver told everyone to run, Minter said. Several people were able to escape; however nine people were taken back to the Jeep Cherokee.
Sheriff’s deputies found a Chevrolet van abandoned and several back packs in the van and outside the vehicle.
Deputies found two people walking south toward a gravel pit on the National Guard Range. Five other people were located two miles north of the van near where the driver of the Jeep had dropped them off, Minter said.
About 3 p.m., a sheriff’s deputy spotted the Jeep on U.S. Highway 60 near Sossaman Road.
Deputies found people in the front seats, middle seats and in a rear cargo area, Minter said.
Everyone was taken to an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Florence, said ICE spokesman Vinnie Picard.
No weapons were found and none of the people wanted to testify in court, Picard said.
Fourteen people voluntarily agreed to be returned to Mexico. The drivers of the Jeep and van will go before a judge for removal proceedings, he said.
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