A Texas National Guard member was arrested and charged with human smuggling near the U.S.-Mexico border after allegedly turning around at a Border Patrol checkpoint and leading state troopers on a high-speed chase that ended when police deployed road spikes, according to authorities and Kinney County court documents.
According to arrest affidavits, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers captured Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, 26, on Highway 90 in Kinney County on Sunday afternoon after pursuing him for 15 miles at speeds above 100 mph. According to the affidavits, he pulled over in the middle of the chase to drop off a young Hispanic male before driving past motorists on the wrong side of the roadway.
According to the affidavits, he finally came to a stop around two miles after the spike strip pierced the tires of the GMC SUV he was driving.
Johnson was charged with two felonies — human smuggling and evading arrest in a vehicle — as well as a misdemeanor for unlawfully carrying a firearm when police located a 9-millimeter pistol in the vehicle.
NewsNation initially reported Johnson’s arrest on Wednesday, adding that he had been deployed to Eagle Pass as part of the state’s multibillion-dollar border program, Operation Lone Star.
It was unclear on Thursday whether Johnson had a lawyer.
Following Johnson’s arrest, DPS investigators called his first sergeant, according to the affidavits. The Texas Guard did not return requests for comment.
“If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal,” said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is the Guard’s commander in chief. “We have zero tolerance for Texans who break laws that clearly contradict the mission we are working to achieve. The accused’s illegal smuggling may result in a required minimum jail sentence of at least ten years. “He deserved more.”
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Last year, the Legislature established a new state law that doubled the minimum term for those convicted of smuggling immigrants or operating a stash house from two to ten years.
“It’s not the first Guardsman that we’ve apprehended,” said Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, whose deputies also arrived to the scene. “Everyone is vulnerable to it because of the money involved. Smuggling has been a long-standing issue with law enforcement agencies, including Border Patrol and the FBI.