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Border Patrol Agent Killed in TX Crash

ENCINO, TX – A Border Patrol agent was killed and another was in critical condition after their vehicle hit a bull and crashed in rural south Texas.

The agents veered off Farm-to-Market 755 just south of Encino around 11:30 p.m. Sunday after striking the bull, Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Rosie Huey said Monday. They were on patrol when they went off the road and hit a mesquite tree.

The driver, Mark Van Doren, 40, of Michigan, was declared dead on the scene. Passenger Adelaido Martinez, 37, was flown to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi with head trauma, said Department of Public Safety senior operator Ana Mendez.

Martinez was in the hospital’s intensive care unit Monday being treated for multiple fractures and lacerations, according to a Border Patrol statement.

Neither agent on duty in the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria was wearing a seat belt, Mendez said. The posted speed limit on the rural road is 65 mph and the conditions at the time were dry and clear.

Encino is about 180 miles south of San Antonio.