Border Patrol agent killed while assisting with crash in Imperial Valley

IMPERIAL COUNTY —  A Border Patrol agent was struck and killed by a passing vehicle in Salton City as he was assisting a motorist involved in a collision, authorities said.

Alejandro Flores-Bañuelos, 35, who was assigned to the Indio Station, was a 12-year veteran of the agency. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

The agent had responded to reports of a crash on state Route 86 north of Marina Drive about 4:20 p.m. Monday during a dust storm that caused low visibility, according to the California Highway Patrol. The four-lane divided highway is surrounded by open expanses of land.

Flores-Bañuelos was the first to arrive and began assisting a 75-year-old woman in the front passenger seat of a Nissan Sentra that had become disabled in the road, officials said.

A Chevrolet driving northbound at an unknown speed struck both the agent and the Nissan.

An Imperial County sheriff’s deputy arrived shortly after and provided first aid to the agent and called for help, according to the Border Patrol.

Flores-Bañuelos died at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley. The Nissan passenger was hospitalized with moderate injuries, according to the CHP.

The driver of Chevrolet, a 64-year-old man from Borrego Springs, was not injured. He was not arrested. The crash remains under investigation.

“It is with a profound sense of loss that we mourn the passing of one of our own, Border Patrol Agent Alejandro Flores,” El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said Tuesday. “The men and women of the El Centro Sector will be deeply impacted by this tragic loss.”

Flores-Bañuelos lived in the San Joaquin Valley before joining the Border Patrol.

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.