Austin: Delivery Driver Shot by ICE Indicted by Federal Grand Jury, Charged With Using Car as Weapon Against Federal Officers
In Austin, Travis County, Texas, a federal grand jury on October 20 indicted delivery driver Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was shot in the back by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during an immigration enforcement operation last month.
According to court documents filed on October 20, Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national who drives for DoorDash, is charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. The indictment accuses him of using a motor vehicle as a deadly and dangerous weapon while interfering with two federal officers performing their official duties. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He is in federal custody after a judge denied his bond.
The incident took place on September 20. According to the criminal complaint, ICE officers stopped Garces Perez while he was making a delivery; he was subject to a final order of removal. Prosecutors allege that as he drove away, his driver's-side mirror struck an officer, setting off an roughly eight-minute pursuit that ended near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square, where an officer shot him in the back. His legal team said in late September that the bullet was still lodged in his back days after the shooting; the defense has previously called the charges 'retaliation' and argued that body-camera footage did not fully capture the moment he drove away. Garces Perez has maintained that he wanted to park his vehicle first.
The Austin Police Department's separate investigation into the shooting itself is continuing. Police Chief Lisa Davis has said local investigators have made repeated requests for evidence from federal authorities but have not received anything so far.
An indictment is a formal accusation only, and Garces Perez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
(GSM, based on CBS Austin's reporting on court filings and FOX 7 Austin)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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