DOJ Charges Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE in Austin With Assaulting Officer
The Justice Department charged Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, with assaulting a federal officer after the Sept. 20 Austin traffic stop that ended with him shot in the back. Prosecutors say bodycam footage shows him fleeing and striking an officer with his car mirror. His attorney disputes the account.
The Justice Department has charged the Venezuelan man shot by an ICE officer in Austin last month. Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, faces one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer — up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The government's case, laid out in a nine-page affidavit: Garces-Perez was under a final order of removal from an immigration judge when ICE officers made a targeted stop outside an Austin restaurant on Sept. 20. He handed over his driver's license, was told in Spanish to put the car in park and step out — the encounter described in the complaint as "pleasant and not aggressive" — then abruptly rolled up his window and sped off, striking an officer in the torso with his side-view mirror. After a pursuit with lights and sirens, prosecutors say he drove at a second officer, who fired. Garces-Perez was hit in the upper back; the bullet remains lodged in his body.
His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, flags a problem in the complaint itself: one officer's body camera was turned off at some point during the pursuit, and no video has been released — only still photos. She disputes the government's account and has filed suit to stop his removal. A detention hearing is set for today. Two stories, one shooting — and the courts will sort out which one holds.