From the Sierra Vista Herald:

Agencies busy with border jumpers

By Gentry Braswell

Herald/Review

SIERRA VISTA — The nice weather this time of year brings about heavy illegal immigration traffic, and last weekend’s bright moonlight ushered in a few police car chases with illegal immigrants.

A vehicle disregarded an attempted Sierra Vista police traffic stop on Highway 92 eastbound Monday near the Mall at Sierra Vista, at about 1 a.m. The pursuit commenced east on Snyder Boulevard, across Avenida del Sol into the brush, according to a city police report summary.

About a dozen suspected illegal immigrants from the fleeing vehicle bailed out of the car once it went off the road, and U.S. Border Patrol personnel were contacted.

Less than an hour later, a Huachuca City police officer saw six northbound vehicles suspected of trafficking illegal immigrants, Chief Dennis Grey said. When his officer tried to stop one of the vehicles, the vehicles fled north, reaching speeds of perhaps 100 mph, Grey said.

North of Huachuca City, around mile post 300, Arizona Department of Public Safety patrol joined the pursuit, and road spikes were placed on the highway by DPS, Grey said.

One of the vehicles, a Chevy Suburban, hit the DPS spikes and ran off the road. All but two of its occupants fled on foot, Grey said.

There were no injuries, and the two female immigrants who remained in the Suburban were turned over to Border Patrol custody, Grey said.

Another vehicle from that chase was stopped by Benson police, and the remainder of the fleeing vehicles split at the Highway 90/Interstate 10 intersection, some turning east and some turning west, Grey said.

Radio traffic indicated Border Patrol found a group of more than 100 illegal immigrants off Highway 90, Grey said.

Spokesman Gustavo Soto of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector was not able to comment on specific incidents from the weekend.

“It’s pretty active out there,” Soto said.

Throughout the sector, 15 to 20 vehicles per day are seized, a number of which are from pursuits, so the reports of each one are not always immediately available in detail to Border Patrol’s media liaisons, he said.

March and April are the most active months for the Tucson Sector, mostly consisting of northbound traffic, Soto said.

Many illegal immigrants are returning from their Mexico homes after having traveled back for the holiday season, Soto said.

The local weather can still reach deadly extremes in the spring, but not as deadly as the dog days of the summer, Soto said.

The illegal immigrant activity continued as the sun rose Monday.

At about 6 a.m., another Sierra Vista police traffic stop on Busby Drive, east of Seventh Street was this time heeded by the suspect vehicle. Four illegal aliens were turned over to Border Patrol custody, according to Sierra Vista police, and three others ran off into a nearby field.

South of town, about 10 minutes later, eight illegal entrants were picked up by Border Patrol at a residence on South San Paulo, Cochise County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said.

As the busy weekend began Friday night, DPS deployed road spikes for a northbound vehicle suspected of trafficking illegal immigrants, DPS Sgt. Vince Fero said.

The tires of a green and silver Chevrolet dually pickup with a camper shell were punctured just south of Kartchner Caverns State Park, Fero said, at about 10 p.m.

The occupants of the pickup all fled when it came to a stop, the Huachuca City police chief said.