Venezuelan national charged with assault after ICE pursuit in Austin

Federal prosecutors in Austin have filed a criminal complaint against 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, alleging he assaulted, resisted, interfered with and impeded a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a traffic stop. According to the complaint, officers located Garces-Perez’s vehicle outside a restaurant, confirmed a final removal order against him, and initiated a stop. After being instructed to exit the vehicle, Garces-Perez closed his window and drove away, striking an officer in the torso with his driver-side mirror.

Body-camera footage captured the initial encounter as “pleasant and not aggressive,” but the officer’s camera was later turned off, and the second officer involved was not wearing a body camera. The second officer reported that Garces-Perez attempted to hit him with the vehicle, prompting the officer to fire his service weapon. Garces-Perez was hit in the upper back and taken to a detention facility.

Garces-Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. He also remains in an immigration detention pending a hearing scheduled for Oct. 2. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has called for the release of the body-camera footage, stating that the footage was turned off during the pursuit and has not been made public.

"The criminal complaint also provides another critical piece of information: one of the officers involved in the incident had a body camera that was turned off at some point during the pursuit. We have not seen that footage. DHS must release the body camera footage immediately and provide full transparency to the American public," Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote on social media.

The Department of Justice confirmed Garces-Perez’s initial court appearance on Tuesday.