Plumbing 
U.S. Border Patrol agent Juan Francisco Perez, 43, of Uvalde, was jailed early Tuesday, Feb. 20, after striking a UCISD crossing guard outside Flores Elementary and driving nearly a mile before stopping.
Flores Elementary is in the 900 block of North Getty Street, and DPS stopped Perez in the 100 block of North Getty.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is charging Perez with driving while intoxicated with an open alcohol container and failure to stop and render aid, a Class B misdemeanor and a felony, DPS Sgt. Rene Cordova said. Perez was booked in to the Uvalde County Jail at 7:50 a.m.
George Juarez, who has been a school district crossing guard for nine years, was hospitalized after the incident, which happened during morning drop-off.
Perez, who was driving a white Ram pickup, will face both a hearing in the criminal courts system and an administrative hearing through his department, Cordova said.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed that Perez was assigned to the Del Rio sector and that the CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility will take the incident under review.
“An arrest is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” according to the statement.
The wreck happened shortly before 7:30 a.m.
The school district said Perez hit Juarez after Perez made an illegal left turn onto Getty Street from Studer Street.
Juarez attempted to redirect the driver and Perez struck him with the pickup.
It did not appear that Perez was dropping anyone off at school and numerous parents and students witnessed the incident, Cordova said.
Cordova said the preliminary report does not specify Perez’s speed.
Uvalde Memorial Hospital is treating Juarez, but the school district did not specify the extent of his injuries. It is not clear when he would return to work.
Flores Elementary staff will cover his position in the meantime, according to the district.
Sofi Zeman (szeman@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335) covers education and crime for the Uvalde Leader-News as a Report for America corps member. Report for America (www.reportforamerica.org) is a national service program that places talented emerging journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities across the United States and its territories.
