Clearwater Man Held In Texas Human Trafficking Case

SAN ANTONIO, TX — A Clearwater man is being held in connection with a human trafficking case in Texas where nine people, all undocumented immigrants, found in the back of a truck in a Walmart parking lot have died, the Department of Justice said.

A criminal complaint against James Bradley Jr., 60, of Clearwater, is expected to be filed Monday morning in federal court in San Antonio. DOJ officials said Bradley will have an initial appearance after the complaint is filed.

All of the deceased are adult males, according to the DOJ. A total of 39 people were found in the trailer and police in San Antonio said eight of them were found dead inside.

Police were alerted to the rig parked at a Walmart parking lot in southwest San Antonio on Sunday at around 12:30 a.m., after one of the victims was able to exit the truck and ask a bystander for water, San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said during a press conference. After being alerted by a Walmart employee, police found eight people already dead and another 20 in severe states of heat exhaustion, the chief said.

The air conditioning inside the trailer was broken. Some of the victims had heart rates of more than 130 beats per minute and were hot to the touch, Texas officials said. Survivors were taken to various hospitals in San Antonio.

Image: San Antonio police officers investigate the scene Sunday, July 23, 2017, where eight people were found dead in a tractor-trailer loaded with at least 30 others outside a Walmart store in stifling summer heat in what police are calling a horrific human trafficking case, in San Antonio. (Photo by Eric Gay/Associated Press)