Search fatalities

Erik A. Molix

Age : 25

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/03/2021

Location : New Mexico State Road 185, approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint

City : Doña Ana County

County : Doña Ana

State : New Mexico

Agency : U.S. Border Patrol

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Checkpoint evasion. A U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to the Las Cruces station observed Erik A. Molix driving north on New Mexico State Road 185 approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint. The agent initially followed without activating emergency equipment. Molix subsequently circumvented the checkpoint by driving into the southbound lanes and continuing north, after which the agent activated emergency equipment and attempted to stop him. A second Border Patrol unit joined the pursuit.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/03/2021, 25-year-old Erik A. Molix was critically injured when the SUV he was driving overturned during a U.S. Border Patrol pursuit on New Mexico State Road 185 north of Las Cruces. An Ecuadorian passenger died from injuries sustained in the crash, eight other passengers were hospitalized, and Molix died 12 days later.
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The encounter began early that morning approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint on State Road 185. According to CBP's initial account, a Las Cruces Border Patrol agent saw Molix's northbound SUV pull to the side of the highway and then resume traveling north. The agent began following the SUV without activating emergency lights or siren.
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Molix approached the Border Patrol checkpoint, which is approximately 69 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, but circumvented it by entering the southbound lanes of State Road 185 and continuing north. The agent then activated emergency equipment and attempted to stop the SUV. Another Border Patrol unit joined the pursuit.
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Later reporting identified Molix as a U.S. citizen transporting nine undocumented migrants. Border Patrol records documented pursuit speeds reaching approximately 73 mph.
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Approximately three miles north of the checkpoint, the SUV went out of control and overturned. Several passengers were ejected. CBP's original public statement described the event simply as Molix losing control while attempting to evade agents and did not disclose police-vehicle contact immediately before the rollover.
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Later evidence materially complicated that account. Records obtained from Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team showed that a Border Patrol vehicle made contact with the SUV immediately before it overturned. WOLA's reconstruction states that the Border Patrol vehicle clipped Molix's SUV, sending it tumbling from the roadway.
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Surviving passenger Lesvin Gámez subsequently gave an even more serious account. Gámez alleged that a Border Patrol vehicle struck the rear of the SUV during the encounter and later hit it again immediately before he lost consciousness. His account conflicts with CBP's original description of Molix simply losing control.
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The available records also contain significant inconsistencies concerning the pursuit itself. Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team described a pursuit of approximately 3.2 miles; another CBP report described approximately 1.5 miles; and location coordinates contained in another agency record were inconsistent with both accounts. Records also conflicted over the distance between the Border Patrol vehicle and Molix's SUV, when emergency lights and sirens were activated, and whether spike strips were used.
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An unidentified Ecuadorian male passenger suffered fatal injuries. Eight other passengers were hospitalized. Molix survived the initial crash but remained critically injured and died 12 days later.
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Molix's mother was a fifth-grade teacher in El Paso. She learned that her son had died through a CBP news release rather than directly from the agency. She subsequently became an ACLU client and challenged the circumstances surrounding his death and the adequacy and independence of the investigation.
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The investigation itself became a significant part of the case. Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team arrived at the crash scene within approximately an hour and assumed a central investigative role. CIT personnel photographed and processed the scene, collected physical evidence, obtained video and radio communications, interviewed Border Patrol agents and surviving passengers, obtained outside law-enforcement and medical-examiner records, and participated in reconstructing the crash.
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Body-camera footage from the scene captured a Border Patrol agent discussing the arrival of the Critical Incident Team and indicating that agents would provide statements to that team. The ACLU subsequently obtained the 162-page CIT investigative report and criticized Border Patrol for effectively investigating an incident involving its own agents.
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The ACLU identified substantial inconsistencies and deficiencies in that report, including conflicting descriptions of pursuit distance, police following distance, emergency-equipment activation and possible spike-strip use. The organization argued that reliance on the Border Patrol Critical Incident Team undermined the independence of the investigation.
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The incident was also investigated or reviewed by Homeland Security Investigations, New Mexico State Police, CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility, the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Las Cruces Border Patrol agent who initially followed Molix, the agent driving the Border Patrol vehicle that made contact with the SUV, and the other agents participating in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available unredacted records. The Border Patrol Critical Incident Team's role in investigating its fellow agents subsequently became the subject of extensive criticism by the ACLU and other accountability organizations.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://borderoversight.org/event/august-3-2021/
https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/border-patrol-is-investigating-itself-following-deaths-report-reveals
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-demands-customs-and-border-protection-investigate-recent-deadly-vehicle-pursuit
https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/aclu_letter_to_cbp_re_las_cruces_vehicle_pursuit.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/us/politics/border-patrol-migrant-deaths.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22016802-us_cbp_final_report_redacted
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/12/the-cover-up-teams-operating-on-the-us-border