ICE, law enforcement partners apprehend previously deported fugitive alien wanted for vehicular homicide

HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Victoria Police Department and the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office arrested a previously deported fugitive alien wanted in North Texas for vehicular homicide March 10 in Victoria, Texas.

Joel Sac-Tambriz, a 24-year-old previously deported Guatemalan national, was taken into custody pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant out of Tarrant County, Texas, for vehicular homicide for allegedly hitting a 30-year-old man with his vehicle and fleeing the scene on June 9, 2024. Sac-Tambriz is also charged with assaulting an officer and evading arrest for allegedly resisting law enforcement during the encounter and attempting to flee.

Gustavo Francisco Sohom Sac, 19, Pascual Alexander Guachiac Tzep, 18, both undocumented aliens from Guatemala, and Runfa Jiang, a 29-year-old undocumented alien from China, were also arrested during the encounter for allegedly evading arrest and assaulting an officer. Jiang was additionally charged with hindering apprehension of a known felon for allegedly assisting Sohom Sac in his attempt to evade authorities. All four aliens were taken into custody by the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office and were booked into the Victoria County Jail. ICE lodged immigration detainers on all four aliens with the jail.

“This is another example of the extraordinary work being done across the country by the brave men and women in law enforcement to locate and apprehend dangerous criminal aliens, transnational gang members, and foreign fugitives who are in this country illegally and endangering the lives of law-abiding residents,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “Despite all of the false and misleading rumors out there, they still come in to work every day and selflessly put their lives on the line to protect their local communities from danger and ensure that families, like that of the young father who was tragically killed as a result of one of these alien’s alleged actions, have an opportunity for justice.”

Sac-Tambriz illegally entered the U.S. Oct. 13, 2018, and was immediately apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol. He was transferred into ICE custody, processed as an expedited removal and removed to Guatemala Oct. 25, 2018. He illegally re-entered the U.S. on an unknown date and at an unknown location and wasn’t encountered by U.S. immigration officials again until March 10.

To learn more about ICE’s mission to combat transnational crime in Southeast Texas follow us on X at @HSIHouston.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)