BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — The Bexar County Sheriff’s office says a man who was supposed to be held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was "erroneously" released from the Bexar County Jail early Tuesday morning.
Mujica had been in the custody of BCSO on an assault charge and had been sentenced to four years probation on a deferred adjudication. BCSO Spokesperson Deputy Johnny Garcia said that around 7 a.m. Tuesday, he slipped into a line of people being released from the facility and subsequently left the jail without permission.
“Mujica was downstairs in the booking area where those individuals were being released and where the ICE detainees were being picked up. There’s a lot going on downstairs; inmates being picked up for court, paperwork coming in for court, and you have releases that are being processed," Garcia said. "This was the case this morning. As a result of this release, internal affairs is beginning an investigation to look into the specifics of what specifically happened for this particular case."
Garcia said local officers have "no authority" to arrest Mujica at this time.
“He had finished all his state charges so us going to pursue this individual would be an immigration issue which would make it illegal to pursue him,” he said. “He finished all his state charges and at this point in time we don’t have custody or authority to go pursue him.”
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar is treating the incident as an "accidental release" instead of an escape.
Because of the government shutdown, ICE’s media office was not able to provide additional background or a statement in the case.