A Venezuelan man shot by an ICE officer after a vehicle pursuit in Austin earlier this month has been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with and impeding a federal officer, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors claim Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, ignored ICE agents’ orders to leave his vehicle during a targeted traffic stop, then sped away and struck an officer in the torso with the driver’s-side mirror.
If convicted, Garces-Perez could face up to 20 years in federal prison, according to the DOJ.
The complaint says officers initially located Garces-Perez outside a restaurant. After checking his license plate, they confirmed that an immigration judge had issued a final removal order against him and moved to stop the vehicle.
A federal complaint says one ICE officer switched off his body camera during a vehicle pursuit that ended when a second officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez. (Department of Justice)
The two sides disagree about whether the vehicles collided during the stop. The officer told investigators there was no contact, while Garces-Perez said the ICE SUV’s maneuver caused a crash before officers approached him.
According to the complaint, Garces-Perez handed officers his driver’s license during the encounter.
The officers characterized the initial interaction as “pleasant and not aggressive,” the complaint states. But after they ordered Garces-Perez to put the vehicle in park and get out, body-camera footage allegedly shows him suddenly rolling up his window and driving off.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers attempted to take him into custody in Austin, Texas. (Austin Police Department)
Garces-Perez later acknowledged to federal investigators that he ignored the order to exit and drove away, according to the complaint. Investigators read him his Miranda rights in Spanish; he said he understood them and agreed to answer questions without a lawyer present.
The complaint alleges that the driver’s-side mirror hit one of the officers as Garces-Perez fled.
ICE agents pursued him through commercial and residential neighborhoods, using their emergency lights and sirens, prosecutors said.
The officer wearing a body camera said he lost sight of both Garces-Perez and his partner while seeking assistance from a Texas Department of Public Safety dispatcher. He then turned off the camera, according to the complaint. The second officer, who later fired his weapon, was not wearing a body camera.
Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, was charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with and impeding a federal officer after an ICE vehicle pursuit in Austin, Texas, the Justice Department said. (Wilber Garces / Facebook)
The second officer later called his partner and said Garces-Perez had tried to hit him with the vehicle. The report prompted the officer to fire his service weapon, according to the complaint.
Garces-Perez was struck in the upper back, the complaint says. He told investigators that the officer’s SUV hit his vehicle and caused it to spin. After the shooting, he said, the officer opened his door, took the keys from the ignition and instructed him to stay inside until paramedics arrived.
Questions about Garces-Perez’s immigration case have also produced conflicting accounts.
Fox News previously reported that his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said the removal order followed a hearing notice sent to an outdated address, even though Garces-Perez had updated his address with the immigration court.
Federal prosecutors say Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez fled a targeted ICE traffic stop in Austin before his vehicle’s side-view mirror struck an officer in the torso. (Department of Justice)
ICE has rejected claims about his immigration status, saying his employment authorization expired in 2025 and emphasizing that a work permit alone does not provide lawful immigration status.
His attorney has said Garces-Perez remains seriously ill and has a bullet lodged in his body while being held at an ICE detention facility.
Lincoln-Goldfinch, responding to the criminal complaint in a social media post, called for DHS to release the body camera footage.
“The criminal complaint also provides another critical piece of information: one of the officers involved in the incident had a body camera that was turned off at some point during the pursuit. We have not seen that footage. DHS must release the body camera footage immediately and provide full transparency to the American public,” Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote.
“He is now facing proceedings in both a federal criminal case and his federal immigration habeas case. We are working through what these developments mean, and we will share additional information as we are able.”
DOJ said Garces-Perez made his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.
