Court found Tirado Pantoja held no criminal record, posed no flight risk
A federal judge in Houston has ordered the release of Daniel Tirado Pantoja, the second witness detained after a federal immigration agent fatally shot the driver of a work van on July 7.
Tirado Pantoja had been held in custody for more than a month. U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered his release after finding that he had no criminal record and was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, according to court records.
Tirado Pantoja was one of three passengers riding in the work van on July 7 when the driver, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS has said Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle” and that the officer fired on him in self-defense.
The agency has also said Salgado Araujo was a Mexican national who ran a homebuilding business and had lived in the United States without legal status for 35 years.
“We’re very glad that Mr. Tirado is going to be reunited with his family,” said Ross Miller, an attorney for Tirado Pantoja, in a statement released after the order.
Miller’s client had been held in custody since shortly after the July 7 shooting. The judge’s order, issued in Houston, requires his release.