DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A Dallas family is demanding answers after their loved one died mysteriously on an Arkansas road after an encounter with authorities in January 2022.
38-year-old Daniel Barajas was driving from Kentucky to Texas to see his newborn niece and nephew but he never made it.
He was fatally hit by two cars and 18-wheeler while walking along I-30 in Saline County, Arkansas.
Since the tragedy, the Barajas family has questioned the details outlined in the official reports of Daniel’s death.
At a press conference in Dallas on Tuesday, Barajas’ family attorney Mike Laux said authorities found him sleeping in his car on the ramp at mile marker 106 on I-30 in the early morning hours of January 14, 2022.
He said Daniel was awakened by Saline County sheriff’s deputies, who questioned him and claimed he seemed disoriented and appeared to be hallucinating.
“When they encountered Daniel, they rousted him from his sleep and shined lights in his face and immediately decided ‘we need to get a K9 unit in here to smell the car and make sure there’s no drugs in this car’. So right from the very first moment, they believed Daniel was a drug trafficker. Why? Because he was a Latino and he was in Arkansas,” he said.
Despite being cleared by medical personnel, Daniel was prevented from getting back into his vehicle.
“After they did the dog search…nothing comes up. After they do a background check…nothing comes up. Daniel was clean as a whistle and they had no reason to detain him…but they detained him,” said Lowe. “There was nothing wrong Daniel, he wasn’t drunk. So, what do you do? You let the guy go on his way don’t ya. Nothing turned up…you got the dog and everything…so you let him go…but not here.”
Laux said authorities left Daniel in the dark while it was raining to wait for his girlfriend to pick him up and later claimed he committed suicide by walking into the highway.
“It’s important to note that these reports by these officers were written after Daniel died and we are of the very strong opinion that these were cobbled together in order to cover up what really happened. Make no mistake about it we suspect foul play here. We continue to investigate the matter with an eye toward litigation,” he said.
Barajas’ keys, wallet, cell phone and a box of money he had with him were never found.
His family want the public to know more about him. He was a welder who often traveled the country for jobs and was close with his family.
His sister Cecilia Barajas fought back tears and said authorities should have done more to make sure Daniel was safe.
“What the police did to him is a nightmare and I can’t even tell you the void and the pain that this has caused our family,” she said. “Everyone wants to know what happened.”
A statement from the League of United Latin American Citizens said authorities in states located hundreds of miles away contacted Barajas’ family members at their homes immediately following Daniel’s death, inquiring about alleged drug activity. The investigations yielded no evidence of any illicit involvement.
WBAP reached out to the Saline County Sheriff’s Department for comment.
Laux asked anyone with information to contact LULAC.
LULAC president Domingo Garcia joined Laux and the family at the presser and highlighted the disproportionate numbers of traffick stops by law enforcement involving Latino drivers.
According to LULAC, Latinos are 2.5 times more likely to get stopped and have experienced a 69% higher chance of being searched, their possessions seized, false arrests and higher incidents of injuries or death.
The national civil rights organization called for justice in Daniel Barajas’ death and for safe traveler federal protections for Latino drivers on the nation’s interstate highways.
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