Federal prosecutors charged Wilber Rafael Garces Perez after alleging he struck an ICE officer’s vehicle while trying to evade arrest in North Austin.

Federal prosecutors have charged Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan delivery driver shot by an ICE agent in North Austin, with assaulting a federal officer.

The case comes from a Sept. 20 confrontation in the 7000 block of West Anderson Lane. Garces Perez was wounded during the encounter and taken to a local hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition. The charge adds a criminal case to an incident involving a vehicle confrontation, gunfire and conflicting accounts of what happened afterward.

According to an eight-page affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, two ICE officers began following Garces Perez’s blue Toyota Corolla after checking its license plate. The check showed he had a final order of removal from an immigration judge.

Prosecutors allege that Garces Perez tried to drive away and struck one of the officers with the car’s side-view mirror. That allegation supports one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer.

The Shooting And The Video Tell Different Parts of the Story

Reports described an ICE SUV striking the Corolla as Garces Perez attempted to leave. An ICE agent then got out and fired as he tried to flee. Garces Perez later claimed that police officers pulled him from the vehicle after he was shot.

Police bodycam footage shows a different version of those moments. The video shows officers helping Garces Perez out of the car and placing him in handcuffs, rather than forcibly yanking him from the vehicle.

The Filing Leaves Out the Shooter’s Account

The allegations were described by a Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations agent who interviewed one of the ICE officers, identified as D.F. The affidavit says D.F. and another officer, identified as L.G., followed the car after the license-plate check.

L.G. was the officer who opened fire, but the charging document does not include L.G.’s account of the confrontation. That leaves the filing centered on D.F.’s description of the vehicle’s movement and the alleged contact with the officer.

Why It Matters

This case matters because one roadside encounter now raises two separate issues: whether Garces Perez committed the conduct described in the complaint and how the shooting itself should be understood. The federal charge gives prosecutors’ account a formal place in court, but it does not settle the competing descriptions. The bodycam footage addresses what happened after the shooting, while the account from the officer who fired is not included in the filing.

The stakes extend beyond the defendant. Garces Perez faces a federal case after being wounded, while the ICE officers’ actions are being examined through an affidavit, video and the available witness accounts. The episode also shows how an immigration enforcement encounter can quickly become both a criminal prosecution and a public dispute over the use of force. The key unresolved questions are how the allegation will be tested and what L.G. says about the decision to shoot.

Source: The Gateway Pundit