An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been placed on leave after striking a man with his vehicle in Houston on Saturday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to MS NOW.

The unnamed agent struck 48-year-old Miguel Parra, an undocumented immigrant, shortly after 7 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Parra was hospitalized with injuries following the incident, Maj. Anthony McConnell, who leads the Special Investigations Bureau at the sheriff’s office, said at a Saturday press conference.

The DHS spokesperson told MS NOW on Friday that it is “standard practice” for an agent to be placed on leave while an internal investigation is pending, adding that it is “not any indication of wrongdoing.” The spokesperson did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.

The development was first reported by NBC News on Thursday.

In a statement provided to the outlet over the weekend, an ICE spokesperson said immigration agents were not targeting Parra, but that he fled on foot after a traffic stop. Surveillance footage obtained by NBC affiliate KPRC of Houston appears to show Parra and another passenger get out of a vehicle and run before a vehicle strikes Parra. The second person who fled remains unaccounted for, according to the sheriff’s office.

The agent’s placement on leave is the latest controversy to roil ICE as the agency faces scrutiny over seceral recent incidents and high-profile killings. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani demanded ICE end its operations in the city after an agent shot and wounded a Dominican man while attempting to arrest him earlier this month, while his 5-year-old child was in the backseat. On Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit alleging ICE agents were unconstitutionally taking people into custody near state courthouses.

Speaking about the incident in Houston, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told NBC News that he believes the ICE agent intentionally struck and ran over Parra, an allegation that, if substantiated, could lead to aggravated assault charges. But the DHS spokesperson rejected the allegation that the agent intentionally struck Parra, calling it “RECKLESS and FALSE” in a statement to MS NOW.

Teare, a Democrat, also told NBC News that the federal government was not cooperating with an independent investigation being conducted by his office and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for the Harris County DA’s Office referred MS NOW to Teare’s public statements.

McConnell, from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, initially said Parra’s leg was broken in the incident. But Cesar Espinosa, the co-founder of FIEL, a local immigration advocacy organization, said at a Wednesday press conference that Parra’s leg was not broken. Espinosa said, however, that Parra had sustained “multiple fractures” and was “very, very injured.”

As of Wednesday, Parra was still hospitalized, according to Espinosa.

Parra’s lawyer did not respond to questions from MS NOW on Friday.

This story has been updated with additional information provided by the sheriff’s office.

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