Federal agents were involved in a car crash Wednesday morning in St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood, according to the St. Paul Police Department.
At about 9:39 a.m., St. Paul Police officers were called to the scene of a car crash on Selby and Western Avenues, where a large crowd had gathered.
“The preliminary information we received was that federal agents were pursuing a person in a vehicle when the vehicle crashed,” a news release from SPPD says.
The news release says that the person who was being pursued sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital by St. Paul fire medics.
Activist groups initially reported that a person might have died as a result of the crash, but a spokesperson for St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her told Sahan Journal there were no fatalities.
Her said in a statement that the crash, “underscores the fact that ICE is still present, causing chaos, and putting residents at risk in Saint Paul.”
“Because of the reckless way that ICE is running their operation, one person ended up in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and several bystanders had their cars damaged. This is just another incident that tells us loud and clear: Operation Metro Surge needs to end immediately,” the statement reads in part.
ICE officers were attempting to conduct a traffic stop when the driver of the vehicle, Alexander Romero-Avila, fled and began driving “recklessly,” according to a statement from Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. Romero-Avila is a Honduras national without legal status in the country, DHS said.
During the car chase, Romero-Avila “began driving recklessly and ran red lights, endangering public safety and law enforcement.” It also stated that Romero-Avila crashed his vehicle into multiple cars and an ICE vehicle. No ICE officers or members of the public were injured, but Romero-Avila was taken to the hospital for “evaluation of injuries.”