Immigration officials arrest driver who crashed, killing 6, near San Diego

One of the survivors, a 12-year-old girl, saw her parents and 8-year-old brother die in the crash, said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The driver, a Mexican national, was arrested on suspicion of smuggling illegal immigrants, Mack said. He was taken into custody in Brawley on Sunday by federal agents, and his name and age were not released because he may be a juvenile, she said.

He was spotted driving a GMC Yukon with the lights out about midnight Friday by police in Westmorland, about 125 miles east of San Diego, Mack said. Westmorland police tried to stop the SUV, but the driver sped out of sight, she said.

Officers found the SUV overturned in a canal at Andre and Garvey roads, Mack said.

Eight or nine additional passengers had fled the crash scene by the time police arrived, Mack said.

Police took four injured passengers to Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley. Agents held three others as witnesses and turned five more over to border patrol agents, who plan to return them to Mexico, Mack said.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com