A Texas National Guardsman accused of smuggling a migrant across the southern border led authorities on a high-speed chase before he was finally taken into custody, dash and bodycam video revealed.
Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, who was deployed to Eagle Pass as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, is facing charges including evading arrest, smuggling of persons and unlawful carry of a weapon, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed.
Video of his capture, shared online Wednesday by News Nation, sees Johnson being pulled from the driver’s seat of a silver SUV and out the passenger side door by authorities, who then take him into custody.
#BREAKING A Texas National Guard soldier deployed from McAllen to Eagle pass under Operation Lonestar was busted for attempting to smuggle an illegal immigrant in a government vehicle on Sunday.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe says the soldier turned around when he approached a… pic.twitter.com/HrIIqXmNTq
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) April 3, 2024
Prior to his arrest on Sunday, he attempted to flee pursuing officers, who tried to pull him over when he turned around near a pop-up tactical Border Patrol checkpoint off Highway 674. It had been set up just days earlier, and authorities became suspicious at his sudden change of course, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe told News Nation.
The subsequent pursuit, with speeds at some points topping 100 mph, stretched some 15 miles near the U.S. border with Mexico, Coe noted.
The migrant he’d been attempting to transport initially tried to flee while officers detained Johnson but eventually surrendered to authorities to be processed. According to News Nation sources, Johnson was allegedly paid upwards of $5,000 for the smuggling job.
“If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal,” Gov. Abbott said in a statement to News Nation. “We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve.”
Johnson’s arrest marked at least the second time in less than a year that soldiers have been caught trying to transport migrants from the border in Texas. Last June, two soldiers, including one from the Louisiana National Guard, were arrested and charged with attempting to smuggle migrants through the same region in Kinney County.
