Sopori locks down after second incident

Sopori School was put under lockdown for a second time this month because of illegal border activity in the area, a Pima County Sheriff’s spokesperson said Wednesday.

Around 9:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents tried to stop a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of Mount Hopkins and Elephant Head Road. The driver of the Nissan pickup pulled over, but sped away when the agent approached the vehicle, said Mike Scioli, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesperson.

While the agent was looking for the truck, which was spotted driving north on the east Interstate 19 frontage road, he discovered a badly injured man in the road in front of Sopori Elementary School, 5000 W. Arivaca Road.

Pima County Sheriff’s investigators said it appears the man, a Mexican national, either jumped or was thrown from the bed of the fleeing pickup truck, said Sheriff’s spokesperson Dawn Hanke.

A Life Net helicopter was flown in to take the man to University Medical Center, where he was treated for life-threatening head injuries, but is expected to survive, Hanke said.

About 20 minutes after the agent found the man in the street, Pima County Sheriff’s dispatchers received a call from a man who had flagged down a car to use the use the motorist’s cell phone. He told officers he’d been car-jacked and that the Nissan pickup was his, Hanke said.

Officers later discovered that the man was the driver of the pickup who fled after abandoning the vehicle north of the school. While searching the vehicle, Border Patrol agents found 10 bundles of marijuana hidden inside, Hanke said.

Marco Antonio Morando, 19, was arrested on suspicion of transportation for sale of marijuana and hit and run, she said.

Arivaca Road, line with more than 20 law enforcement vehicles, was closed to one lane while the scene was being investigated into the early afternoon.

The Border Patrol launched a search to find any other suspects who might have been in the truck, deploying their horse patrol, search helicopters and BORSTAR, their rescue unit. The driver and passenger were found to be the only occupants of the pickup, Hanke said.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726