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Luis Figueroa Gonzalez

Age :

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 12/06/2022

Location : Kinney County roadway near Brackettville

City : Brackettville area

County : Kinney

State : Texas

Agency : Texas Department of Public Safety

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE:
Texas Department of Public Safety migrant chase.
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NARRATIVE:
On 12/06/2022, Luis Figueroa Gonzalez was killed during a Texas Department of Public Safety vehicle pursuit in Kinney County near Brackettville. Four other people — Samuel Gonzalez Arroyo, Miguel Mendiola Gutierrez, Raul Tovar Alvarez, and John Ware — were also killed.
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The vehicle was carrying a group of migrants through the border region when Texas DPS troopers pursued it. The pursuit occurred amid Operation Lone Star, during a period in which DPS was conducting large numbers of vehicle pursuits in Texas border counties.
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During the pursuit, DPS officers positioned spike strips in the vehicle's path. Human Rights Watch's subsequent investigation, based in part on DPS pursuit records, found that the driver attempted to avoid the spike strips and lost control.
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The vehicle rolled multiple times. At least eight occupants were ejected. Figueroa Gonzalez and four other people died as a result of the crash, while another four occupants were critically injured and transported by air to hospitals.
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Human Rights Watch specifically examined the crash in its investigation of Texas DPS pursuit practices under Operation Lone Star and highlighted it as an example of deaths associated with police deployment of spike strips during high-speed pursuits.

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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/11/27/so-much-blood-ground/dangerous-and-deadly-vehicle-pursuits-under-texas-operation
https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars