Texas federal prosecutors charge Venezuelan delivery driver with assault after ICE shooting
Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot by an ICE officer in Austin, has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. The incident occurred during a police chase on Sept. 20, and his legal team says he remains in serious medical condition.
Federal prosecutors in Texas filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday charging Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. The charge follows a Sept. 20 incident in Austin where an ICE officer shot Garcés Pérez in the upper back while he was in his car making DoorDash deliveries.
According to the complaint, Garcés Pérez struck an officer’s torso with his vehicle’s side mirror while attempting to drive away, prompting a high-speed chase through commercial and residential areas. The complaint states that after the chase, an ICE officer fired his pistol, hitting Garcés Pérez in the back-right window of his car.
The driver’s attorneys say the bullet remains lodged near his spine, leaving him in a wheelchair, in pain and in need of surgery. > "We are all laser-focused on making sure that Wilber doesn’t die in custody," said Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing him.
Garcés Pérez appeared in federal court for an initial hearing, but his legal team said the appearance was a surprise because they learned of it only during a pre-scheduled meeting that the client missed. They added that he was in considerable pain, dizzy and had not received pain medication.
After nine days in immigration custody in San Antonio, Garcés Pérez was transferred to a federal criminal facility near Austin, a move his lawyers described as creating a "web of detention" for him.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said the driver tried to strike an officer with his car, prompting the officer to fire. The court hearing scheduled for Wednesday to address Garcés Pérez’s lawsuit challenging his detention was cancelled. A federal judge had earlier issued an emergency order temporarily blocking deportation proceedings against him, and his attorneys continue to argue that he should not be re-detained in immigration custody pending the criminal case.