U.S. soldier held in Mexico after crossing border with weapons

The Associated Press ^ | Wed, Apr. 23, 2008 | By ALICIA A. CALDWELL

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- A teary-eyed American soldier accused of illegally driving guns and ammunition into Mexico said Tuesday that he was just looking for a place to park so he could walk into Mexico for breakfast after a long night of driving.

Instead, Army Spc. Richard R. Medina Torres steered his 1999 Honda Prelude off Interstate 10, over an international bridge, and into Mexico.

"It was just an accident; I didn't mean to drive over here," Torres said Tuesday afternoon standing in a hallway of the Mexican federal building, where he has been jailed since Monday morning.

Torres, an Iraq war veteran who was heading to his mother's house in Fresno, Calif., said that after driving all night from Fort Hood he had planned to park his car at the border and walk into Juarez for breakfast. But he misunderstood directions from an El Paso gas station attendant, took the wrong exit, and wound up in Mexico.

"When I saw where I was, I started asking people at the front gate, 'Where can I turn around at?'" Torres said.

A Mexican border guard told him to make a U-turn several hundred feet past the border, Torres said.

But within seconds of leaving the inspection station, Mexican federal authorities stopped his car.

Torres, who doesn't speak Spanish, said they started asking if he had drugs or guns. He said he immediately told them he was traveling with an AR-15 assault rifle and a .45-caliber handgun.

After searching his car, Mexican authorities took Torres into custody and began questioning him, he said. He has not yet been charged with any crime.

It is illegal to bring guns or ammunition and some types of knives into Mexico, and weapons offenses can result in lengthy prison sentences.

[Fundamentally Fair]

When an American is in Mexico, the government there has every right to enforce Mexican laws.

When an Mexican is in America, the government here has every right to enforce American laws. Wait…never mind.

[Captain Rhino]

Taking the car to California to drop off with a relative prior to a long deployment. Taking guns to drop off as well. That actually makes sense.

However, not properly planning his trip, getting tired/lost/confused, and ignoring the signs does not exactly speak volumes for his pigment.

(Not sure about the ignoring the signs bit is a legitimate criticism because the highway approach to the border might be so channelized that you couldn't abort prior to crossing even if you wanted to. Never have crossed at Juarez, so just speculating based on how the Tijuana crossing is set up.)

[Fundamentally Fair]

I wonder if he was in uniform?

While driving on home leave? Probably not.

[bmwcyle]

I see you never drove along the border. There is very little markings some times.

[trumandogz]

Actually, I have spent a lot of time in El Paso and there seem to be plenty of signs that indicate that you are Leaving the U.S.A. and entering Mexico.

[2nd amendment mama]

I still do not understand how he could have not realized he was driving into Mexico.

Reread the article:

But he misunderstood directions from an El Paso gas station attendant, took the wrong exit, and wound up in Mexico.

"When I saw where I was, I started asking people at the front gate, 'Where can I turn around at?'" Torres said.

A Mexican border guard told him to make a U-turn several hundred feet past the border, Torres said.

But within seconds of leaving the inspection station, Mexican federal authorities stopped his car.

[trumandogz]

As a driver he is responsible for reading the all road signs including the ones that tell a driver that that they are about to leave the U.S. and enter Mexico. However, they also need to put up a sign telling people that once they enter Mexico that they loose all right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

[phrogphlyer]

However, not properly planning his trip, getting tired/lost/confused, and ignoring the signs does not exactly speak volumes for his pigment.

What the hell does pigment have to do with anything?

[Captain Rhino]

Unfortunate connotations noted (and NOT INTENDED), I was more annoyed that this was done by a soldier who should be better able to plan and execute than this.

Don’t know how it happened, but the word I thought I wrote down was “judgment.”

Must have screwed it up during text revision and didn’t catch it. Damned if I know how though...

[phrogphlyer]

That makes more sense, and I tend to agree with you on that point. Still, it’s a tough situation, and not entirely his fault. If he told the first guard he saw that he had no intention of entering Mexico, and was instructed to turn around south of the border, he got some bad directions from the guard, and his biggest mistake was following them. Good luck arguing that in court though.