{"id":451585,"date":"2026-09-29T23:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/451585\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T23:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:34:10","slug":"venezuelan-man-shot-and-wounded-by-ice-agent-in-texas-is-charged-with-assaulting-an-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/451585\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuelan man shot and wounded by ICE agent in Texas is charged with assaulting an officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal prosecutors in Texas announced charges<\/a> on Tuesday against Wilber Rafael Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez<\/a>, a Venezuelan delivery driver<\/a>shot and seriously wounded by an ICE officer <\/a>in Austin earlier this month. The charges came a day before he was set to appear in court to challenge the legality of his immigration detention.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez, 28, was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, according to a criminal complaint filed<\/a> in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was wounded by an ICE officer in the upper part of his back on Sept. 20 while he was in his car making DoorDash deliveries. His attorneys say the bullet is still lodged near his spine, causing \u201cgrave danger.\u201d A Democratic congressman who visited Garc\u00e9s last week<\/a> said he was in a wheelchair, in pain and in need of surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all laser-focused on making sure that Wilber doesn\u2019t die in custody,\u201d said Rochelle Garza, president of the legal nonprofit Texas Civil Rights Project who is part of Garc\u00e9s\u2019 legal team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez had his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday, said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The criminal complaint accuses Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez of striking an ICE officer\u2019s torso with his car\u2019s side mirror while trying to drive away. This officer was not wearing a body camera<\/a> at the time of the encounter, as the Department of Homeland Security has stated previously, but the complaint includes images appearing to capture this moment from the body camera of a second ICE officer who was also there. After this, \u201ca high-speed chase through a commercial and residential area\u201d ensued, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

\"bodyBody camera footage from the ICE officer identified as D.F., showing the ICE officer identified as L.G. interacting with Wilber Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez in his car.USDC for Western District of Texas<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s court appearance following the criminal complaint took Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s legal team \u201cas a surprise,\u201d they told NBC News in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis attorneys only learned of this appearance due to a pre-scheduled meeting they had with him this morning, in which he did not appear,\u201d their statement said. \u201cThis morning, when his attorneys were finally able to see him, he was in considerable pain, dizzy, and needed pain medication, which had not been provided. Rather than provide the life saving medical care he needs, DHS and the government are playing games with his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was transferred out of a facility in San Antonio, where he had been in immigration custody for nine days, and placed in federal criminal custody in a facility near Austin, according to Garza. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt has created a web of detention for him,\u201d she said of having Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez be transferred from custody. <\/p>\n

According to the complaint, after the chase began, the ICE officer wearing his body camera \u2014 identified in the complaint by the initials D.F. \u2014\u00a0lost sight of Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez and of the other ICE officer, who was not wearing his body camera and is identified in the complaint by the initials L.G.<\/p>\n

The ICE officer who was not wearing his body camera eventually called his colleague. \u201cL.G. told D.F. that Garcs had attempted to strike L.G. with his car and L.G. had fired his pistol,\u201d the complaint states. The complaint provides no visual evidence of that interaction.<\/p>\n

The complaint also includes the account of events Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez provided to federal investigators. He said an SUV from one of the ICE officers struck his \u201ccar and caused it to spin around\u201d following a short pursuit, the complaint states. \u201cAfter coming to a forced stop, Garces recalled L.G. firing his pistol into the backright window of Garces\u2019 car. Garces was struck with a bullet in his upper back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoLaw enforcement monitor Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez’s car on Sept. 20 in Austin, Texas.Brandon Bell \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

By contrast, U.S. Attorney Simmons said in the statement that Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez tried to strike an officer with his car, \u201ccausing the officer to fire his pistol.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s lawsuit challenging his detention was canceled.<\/p>\n

Last Tuesday, a federal judge had granted an emergency order temporarily blocking deportation proceedings<\/a> against Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez, according to one of his attorneys, <\/a>Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still fighting to ensure that the government doesn\u2019t re detain him under immigration custody following whatever is being done on the criminal side,\u201d Garza said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federal prosecutors in Texas announced charges on Tuesday against Wilber Rafael Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez, a Venezuelan delivery drivershot and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-451585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}