A Harris County grand jury has indicted ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from an October 10 incident in which he struck a construction worker with an SUV during a chase, leaving the man seriously injured.

The indictment, handed up Friday, October 30, centers on 48-year-old Miguel Parra Hernandez, who was seriously hurt when Morales's vehicle hit him, according to ABC7's reporting. Morales appeared in court Monday, November 2, and posted a non-arrest bond after a judge set bail at $30,000, per Click2Houston.

Dueling accounts of the chase

The two sides tell sharply different stories about what happened. ICE has said Parra Hernandez ran directly in front of the vehicle during the encounter. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare disputes that account, saying surveillance footage instead appears to show Parra Hernandez and a second man running away from an ICE vehicle that turned a corner and struck him from behind, according to the Houston Chronicle's account of the DA's statement.

LOCAL OFFICIALS HAVE "INVENTED A CRIME OUT OF THIN AIR."

Morales's attorney has pushed back forcefully, calling the incident "clearly just an accident" and accusing Harris County officials of fabricating a criminal case where none exists, per PBS NewsHour's reporting on the defense's position. The case lands amid a broader national pattern of friction between local prosecutors and federal immigration enforcement over the conduct of agents during arrests and pursuits.

What's next: Morales is due back in court as the case proceeds through Harris County's criminal docket. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security has issued an extended public statement beyond defending the agent's account of the chase, and it remains unclear whether Morales will face any internal agency action while the criminal case is pending.