Two men face federal charges in connection with a failed human-smuggling attempt on Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson that left one man dead and two people critically injured.
Andrew Blake, 44, and Brian Lindsey, 40, both U.S. citizens, face charges of human smuggling that placed lives in jeopardy and resulted in a death, according to a criminal complaint filed April 9 in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
Blake and Lindsey are accused of smuggling 12 suspected illegal immigrants in a Nissan Titan pickup truck, which rolled over after Blake, the driver, fled from law enforcement on Friday, April 6, according to the complaint.
A 32-year-old man from Mexico was pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck on Interstate 10 near Picacho. Two other suspected illegal immigrants were taken by medical helicopter to a Phoenix hospital in critical condition, according to the complaint.
The other occupants of the truck were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at hospitals in Casa Grande, Tucson, and Chandler. A juvenile from Guatemala suffered serious injuries.
The wreck came after Blake and Lindsey picked up the suspected illegal immigrants near Marana, a Homeland Security Investigations agent wrote in the complaint. Border Patrol agents and HSI agents in unmarked vehicles followed the truck as Blake drove onto I-10 and headed toward Phoenix.
A Pinal County sheriffβs deputy responded around 11 p.m. to assist the agents near Eloy. The deputy turned on his emergency lights and tried to stop the pickup truck, but Blake failed to yield, according to the complaint. The truck accelerated to about 80 mph before Blake lost control. The truck rolled over and came to a stop in the median near mile marker 213.
An hour earlier, Border Patrol agents and HSI agents were investigating suspected human smuggling activity near the intersection of North Anway Road and West Orange Grove Road in the Picture Rocks area, a known site for illegal immigrants to be picked up and driven to the Phoenix area, according to the complaint.
Agents using night-vision equipment saw a group of suspected illegal immigrants come out of the desert brush and get into the pickup truck.
Lindsey, whose name also appears in court documents spelled Lindsay, and two suspected illegal immigrants identified Blake as the driver of the pickup truck. As Blake walked away from the wreck, he said he had purchased the truck earlier that day, the agent wrote.
Lindsey said he knew the occupants of the truck were in the country illegally. He said he was going to be paid $400 to transport one person to Phoenix, according to the complaint.
The Pinal County Sheriffβs Office referred questions to the Border Patrol. The public affairs office for the Border Patrolβs Tucson Sector provided a summarized version of the account in the criminal complaint.
Both Blake and Lindsey are in federal custody, according to the Border Patrol.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating the wreck.
