Wilber Garces Perez, who was shot in the back by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Sept. 20 in North Austin, has been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering and impeding law enforcement.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas brought the charges against Garces Perez, a citizen of Venezuela, after he fled from immigration officials during a traffic stop, according to prosecutors.
The ICE officers, who were in separate, unmarked SUVs, said they spotted Garces Perez after running a license plate check in a shopping center parking lot and turned on their emergency lights. Garces' Perez's attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he was picking up a food delivery order for DoorDash.
He did not immediately stop, causing one of the officers to cut off Garces Perez's car, court document show. Once stopped, he showed his driver's license to the officers, but after being asked to step out the car, Garces Perez asked if he could move his car and park it.
The officer then ordered him to get out of the car again, according to the documents. Garces Perez then closed the window and drove off, hitting an officer on the hip with the side mirror, prosecutors said.
ICE pursued and caught up to Garces Perez, crashing an SUV into his car, which caused Garces Perez's car to spin around, the court documents said. Garces Perez is accused of trying to strike an officer with his car afterward, leading the ICE officer to shoot Garces Perez, who was unarmed.
The officer who shot Garces Perez did not have a body-worn camera, according to court documents. The other officer who was present at the time of the stop said he lost sight of Garces Perez and the officer who shot him, according to the same document.
Garces Perez, if convicted, faces up to 20 years in federal prison. His detention hearing for these charges is set for Friday. He will also appear in court on Wednesday in San Antonio as his attorneys seek his release from detention.
This is a developing story.
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