Illegals will run you down!!!

BISBEE — An employee of American Border Patrol, a non-governmental organization, was threatened on Thursday by a suspected smuggler near the U.S.-Mexico border near Palominas.

At about 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Mike Christie was driving a quad on the group’s ranch toward Border Monument Road on his way to Highway 92.

Christie saw a white pickup truck heading north and he suspected the driver was involved in nefarious activity.

“As he approached it, the fellow turned around and went back to the border,” said Glenn Spencer, president of American Border Patrol.

A short time later, the man revved the engine of the pickup and headed straight toward Christie. Christie pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the man. Within about 20 yards of striking Christie, the man turned right, busted through the barbed wire fence and crossed into Mexico, Spencer said.

Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, said the incident was reported to U.S. Border Patrol, which, in turn, contacted the Sheriff’s Office in reference to it at about 2:40 p.m. Thursday.

“They got a call from a male subject who stated that he was approached by a new white GMC pickup that did not belong in the area. The male was on his ATV when the truck sped towards him. The male then pulled his gun and the truck turned and fled south through a fence,” Capas said Friday, reading from a report.

On Friday, Christie was called down to the border fence by two individuals in Mexico, according to Spencer. He said one man offered to pay the American Border Patrol to allow them to send their trucks across the organization’s ranch.

Video footage of the attempted assault as well as the alleged bribe offer can be viewed on the Internet at American Border Patrol’s Web site: www.americanpatrol.com. Also, a photo is posted on the Web site showing where the vehicle broke through the barbed wire fence.

Spencer said vehicles are able to easily cross the border through a gate in the fence that is located along American Border Patrol’s property.

HERALD/REVIEW reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.