Venezuelan Illegal Charged with Assaulting ICE Officer After Austin Pursuit

Clear Facts

• Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, 28, a Venezuelan national subject to a final removal order, has been charged with assaulting a federal officer.
• Prosecutors say Garces-Perez struck an ICE officer with his side-view mirror during a traffic stop and later attempted to hit another officer with his vehicle before being shot.
• Garces-Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez faces federal charges for assaulting, resisting, interfering with, and impeding an ICE officer in Austin.

Officers first identified Garces-Perez outside a restaurant after confirming an immigration judge had already issued a final order of removal against him. During the targeted stop, he provided a driver’s license but then ignored commands to exit the vehicle.

Body camera footage captured Garces-Perez abruptly closing his window and speeding away. As he fled, the driver’s side-view mirror struck one officer in the torso.

“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,” said attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.

ICE officers pursued Garces-Perez through commercial and residential streets with lights and sirens activated. The second officer later reported that Garces-Perez tried to strike him with the vehicle, leading the officer to fire his service weapon.

Garces-Perez was hit in the upper back and now has a bullet lodged in his body. He remains in ICE custody while facing both criminal prosecution and immigration proceedings.

ICE maintains that Garces-Perez’s work authorization expired in 2025 and does not grant lawful immigration status. A detention hearing is scheduled for October 2.

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