Drew Dixon
Prosecutors are charging a 34-year-old Honduran man with illegally entering Naval Air Station Pensacola and resisting arrest in connection to an incident involving crashing the gate at the Gulf Coast military installation May 25.
John P. Heekin, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida in the Panhandle area, said in a news release that Orly Moises Garcia Hernandez crashed into a barricade at a checkpoint outside the military base. Garcia Hernandez then led officials on a foot chase before he was apprehended, according to prosecutors. Military personnel finally caught and detained Hernandez at gunpoint.
Garcia Hernandez faces the possibility of 18 months in federal prison and deportation from the United States if he is convicted of the charges.
Federal prosecutors say the case falls under the umbrella of a larger operation in the U.S.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” the news release said.
“Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Navy were also involved in the investigation into the incident. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Goldberg will handle the case for the prosecution.
The formal list of federal charges includes illegally entering a military, naval or Coast Guard property and resisting or impeding the arrest of a federal officer.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida represents 23 counties and crosses the state from near Pensacola to the Gainesville area.
