South El Paso Pedestrian Crash Involves Police Officer

EL PASO — A man was struck while running across Border Highway. Officersfrom the Special Traffic Investigations Unit (STI) responded to Border Highway near the area of Bowie High School to assist Central Patrol with a pedestrian collision.

The preliminary investigation revealed 30-year old Manuel Flores, an off-duty police officer, was driving westbound on Border Highway in a 2004 Ford F150, police said.At the same time 35-year old Gabriel Hernandez-Rodriguez attempted to run across the highway from south to north when he was struck by Flores’s vehicle, authorities said.

Hernandez-Rodriguez was taken by ambulance to Thomason Hospital where he remains in critical condition. Investigators believe Hernandez-Rodriguez had just entered the U.S. illegally before attempting to cross Border Highway.