Federal prosecutors charge Venezuelan man shot in his car by ICE agent in Texas with assaulting police officer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal prosecutors announced an assault charge Tuesday against a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot to death in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas, accusing the man of hitting a police officer with his rearview mirror as he tried to drive away.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a federal agent, according to a criminal complaint. Garces Perez, whose lawyer said he still had a bullet lodged in his back from the Sept. 20 shooting, appeared Tuesday in federal court in Austin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

LEARN MORE: ICE agent shoots, injures man in Austin, Texas, officials say

A nine-page affidavit from a Department of Homeland Security official is the government’s most comprehensive public accounting yet of the shooting in the Texas capital, which sparked protests and Democratic outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The document includes photos taken from body-worn cameras, but no video has been released and the complaint does not say whether the officer who was allegedly struck by the side mirror was injured.

The charges against Garces Perez are reminiscent of previous allegations made by immigration agents after high-profile shootings, in which agents also accused drivers of arming their vehicles. In a handful of cases, those allegations were overturned or rescinded after body-worn camera footage was released, and renewed scrutiny of DHS’s use of vehicle stops to make arrests.

Garces Perez was in the custody of U.S. Marshals after being removed from a federal detention center in South Texas, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors. Separately, Garces Perez’s lawyers filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent his deportation from the United States.

If convicted, Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in prison.

An attorney for Garces Perez declined immediate comment Tuesday. A DHS spokesperson referred questions to the Justice Department.

Affidavit says officer was struck in the torso by a rearview mirror

According to an affidavit signed by a DHS agent, agents first saw Garces Perez’s car parked outside a restaurant with its hazard lights on. They decided to arrest him after running a database check that showed the car was registered to Garces Perez who had received a final order of deportation from the United States.

The officers said they turned on their lights to make the stop, but in the same filing, Garces Pérez told investigators that an unmarked SUV followed him and suddenly cut him off on the side of the road.

Garces Perez, who was making a DoorDash delivery, provided his driver’s license through a crack in the window but ignored officers’ requests to get out of the car, according to the complaint. Garces Pérez told investigators that he refused to come out because he asked police to wait to apprehend him until his wife could come get his car. Court documents describe the interaction as initially conversational, with a “pleasant and non-aggressive” tone.

About a minute later, according to court records, Garces Perez “abruptly” closed the window and left. One of the officers, referred to only by his initials, was hit in the chest with the driver’s side mirror when Garces Pérez tried to flee, according to the documents.

The officer who fired was not wearing a body camera

The unnamed officer who shot Garces Perez was not wearing a body camera. The other officer involved in the chase was carrying a camera, but did not catch up with the chase until after Garces Perez was shot, according to the affidavit.

ICE has previously said its agents on the ground nationwide will have body cameras by the end of September.

The affidavit included screenshots of previously unreleased body-worn camera footage of the officer’s initial interactions with ICE agents. The first of the three photos appears to show the officer standing in front of Garces Perez’s driver’s side mirror; the second shows the officer placing his hands on the hood and side of Garces Perez’s car, with the rearview mirror near or touching the officer’s abdomen; and the third shows the car driving away.

LEARN MORE: Man shot by ICE in Austin held with bullet still in back, lawyer says

The Austin Police Department released video from its officers last week, but that footage did not show the shooting or the moment Garces Perez allegedly tried to run away.

Conflicting accounts of filming preparations

The affidavit includes Garces Perez providing his account to federal investigators, which paints a contrasting picture of the lead-up to the shooting compared to what federal prosecutors have described.

According to the affidavit, Garces Perez said a law enforcement SUV hit his car after a brief chase and spun it before an officer opened fire, shooting him in the back. In contrast, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said in a statement that Garces Perez attempted to hit a police officer with his car, “forcing him to fire his pistol.”

Garces Perez entered the United States in 2024 through CBP One, a program launched under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to make an appointment with U.S. authorities to be able to apply for asylum. President Trump ended the program on his first day in office.

Garces Perez was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit, according to his lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. She said a judge issued a deportation order after Garces Perez missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to an old address.

Others charged following ICE shooting

The shooting occurred amid increased ICE enforcement across the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term. ICE reported more than 50,000 monthly arrests in July and August – a first for the agency.

Immigration officials have come under close scrutiny for shootings that have occurred since Trump took office in January 2025 — at least 10 of which have been fatal. On a few occasions, federal law enforcement charged the person shot and killed by immigration agents with assault.

A woman shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents in Chicago and a man shot in the leg by an ICE agent in Minneapolis were both accused of assaulting agents, but in both cases the charges were dropped. The Minneapolis ICE officer has since been accused of lying about being assaulted before shooting the man in the leg.

Riddle reported from Los Angeles.