Man facing charges of assaulting 2 Border Patrol agents

A man is facing charges that he assaulted two Border Patrol agents last week near the Mexico border southwest of Tucson, authorities said.

Miguel Angel Acatzihua-Temoxtle, 25, a Mexican national, was arrested and is facing one count each of assault of a federal officer and assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

Authorities said Border Patrol agents working near Newfield received information that a group of undocumented immigrants were moving through the Baboquivari Mountains near Ocheros Wash on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Agents went to the area and found several individuals, including Acatzihua-Temoxtle, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.

Acatzihua-Temoxtle ran from the agents up the side of a wash and kicked several large boulders down to slow the pursuit of one of the agents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Acatzihua-Temoxtle then physically assaulted two of the agents, including trying to choke one with a lanyard that held the agent’s night vision goggles, authorities said. The lanyard broke during the struggle, according to a complaint filed in federal court

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As the two were struggling on the ground, another agent arrived to assist and the suspect assaulted that agent. The two agents managed to eventually place Acatzihua-Temoxtle in custody, according to a complaint.

Acatzihua-Temoxtle had his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Leslie A. Bowman on Thursday.

Convictions for assault on a federal officer carry a maximum penalty of 8 years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine. Assault on a federal officer with the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.