Human trafficking ring crashes into Manatee | Bradenton Herald

MANATEE -- Moments before a light blue van crashed into his Toyota Tundra pickup, Joe Barbato was waiting for an opening to make a left hand turn onto State Road 64 from 48th Street Court East.

“I was just sitting there waiting to make a turn,” said Barbato, 22. “I looked up and saw blue. I didn’t realize what was going on and saw people running away.”

Eight men jumped from the van and scattered into nearby woods, according to Steve McDonald, a agent with the U.S. Border Patrol.

One was captured shortly after the crash, McDonald said, and he confessed to being smuggled into the United States from Mexico as a part of a human trafficking pipeline two days before via the Arizona border.

A manhunt for the others was called off after more than six hours, but six of the men were found later Tuesday night in the area near The Inlets subdivision off S.R. 64 and turned over to federal authorities, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

One remains at large.

The incident began at about 10:30 a.m. when a Border Patrol agent noticed the van with Alabama tags heading southbound on Interstate 75.

McDonald said the agent followed the van as it came off at exit 220 and headed westbound on S.R. 64. The agent noticed signs that made the van suspicious, including passengers attempting to hide.

When the driver began to drive faster, the agent turned on his lights and sirens.

Moments later, the crash occurred.

“I was cleaning a car and I heard a boom,” said Johnnie Charles, who cleans cars at the Mobil station at the intersection. “I saw the van and all the Mexicans coming out.”

Charles said he tried to help a border patrol agent by grabbing for a man who ran past him.

He missed.

After Monday’s police shooting in St. Petersburg, “I thought I had to do something,” Charles said, admitting that it wasn’t the safest move, but he felt he “had to help.”

Right after the men fled, Border Patrol created a perimeter from I-75 to 48th Street Court East in search of the seven missing men.

According to McDonald, helicopters, SWAT and patrol dogs from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Bradenton Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement joined the search.

At one point, five schools in the area were on lock down, said School District of Manatee County spokeswoman Margi Nanney: Horizons Academy, 1910 27th St. E.; Wakeland Elementary, 1812 27th St. E.; Bashaw Elementary, 3515 57th St. E.; Manatee Elementary, 1609 Sixth Ave. E.; and Johnson Middle School, 2121 26th Ave. E.

The active manhunt ended at about 4 p.m.

Border Patrol has uncovered 160 cases of human trafficking in the past six years along I-75 since they began an operation on the interstate, McDonald said.

“Florida is arguably the third most popular destination,” for human trafficking, McDonald said. Texas and California are also popular stops.

Anyone who has information about this case is asked to call the Border Patrol at (954) 965-6300, ext. 120.