Austin man shot by ICE agent charged with assault, resisting arrest

AUSTIN, Texas - A man shot by an ICE officer in North Austin has been charged with assaulting and resisting a federal officer. [Fox 7 Austin]

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A Venezuelan national shot during an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Austin last month now faces federal charges stemming from the confrontation. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was charged with a single count of resisting and assaulting a federal officer following the September 20 incident, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors. The shooting occurred after ICE enforcement removal operations officers initiated a traffic stop targeting Garces Perez, whom they had identified as having received a final deportation order from an immigration judge.

Court records indicate the officers first spotted Garces Perez leaving a restaurant before conducting the stop. When approached, Garces Perez complied initially by providing his Texas driver's license to the agents, who identified themselves as immigration officials. However, the situation escalated when officers instructed him to shift his vehicle into park and exit. Garces Perez refused to follow these commands and instead accelerated away from the scene. As his vehicle departed, his driver's side mirror struck one of the officers in the torso, according to the criminal complaint.

The incident then developed into a brief vehicle pursuit through both commercial and residential areas of North Austin. During this chase, one ICE officer claims Garces Perez attempted to strike him with his vehicle, prompting the officer to fire a shot that struck Garces Perez in the back. Emergency crews arrived within three-and-a-half minutes of the reported shooting and transported Garces Perez to a local trauma center in serious but stable condition. He was later released from Dell Seton Medical Center and taken into ICE custody approximately three hours after the shooting, with the bullet still lodged in his back.

Garces Perez's account of events differs significantly from the government's version. According to his statement to investigators, he was working for a food delivery service when he experienced what he described as two separate vehicle sideswiping incidents. He told immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch that after the second sideswipe, the occupants of an unmarked vehicle exited and shot him in the back of the neck before removing him from his car. The officers involved in the stop, identified in court documents only as "L.G." and "D.F.," gave conflicting accounts to Garces Perez regarding when emergency lights were activated and whether their vehicle had made contact with his.

Body camera footage from one officer captured portions of the encounter, though the officer who ultimately fired the shot was not wearing a recording device. If convicted on the federal charge, Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal judge temporarily halted his deportation proceedings, and he is scheduled for a detention hearing set for October 2.

The case has drawn attention from elected officials and advocacy organizations concerned about Garces Perez's medical condition while in custody. U.S. Representative Greg Casar, D-Austin, visited Garces Perez at his holding facility in Pearsall and described him as in pain and in need of surgical intervention. "This person needs a doctor, not a deportation or a detention center," Casar stated during a news conference, as he and other advocates called for Garces Perez's release from immigration detention.