Federal prosecutors in Texas announced charges on Tuesday against Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan delivery drivershot and seriously wounded by an ICE officer in Austin earlier this month.The charges came a day before he was set to appear in court to challenge the legality of his immigration detention.Garcés Pérez, 28, was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Texas.Garcés Pérez was wounded by an ICE officer in the upper part of his back on Sept.20 while he was in his car making DoorDash deliveries.
His attorneys say the bullet is still lodged near his spine, causing “grave danger.” A Democratic congressman who visited Garcés last week said he was in a wheelchair, in pain and in need of surgery.“We are all laser-focused on making sure that Wilber doesn’t die in custody,” said Rochelle Garza, president of the legal nonprofit Texas Civil Rights Project who is part of Garcés’ legal team.Garcés Pérez had his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday, said U.S.Attorney Justin R.
Simmons in a statement.The criminal complaint accuses Garcés Pérez of striking an ICE officer’s torso with his car’s side mirror while trying to drive away.This officer was not wearing a body camera at the time of the encounter, as the Department of Homeland Security has stated previously, but the complaint includes images appearing to capture this moment from the body camera of a second ICE officer who was also there.
After this, “a high-speed chase through a commercial and residential area” ensued, the complaint states.Body camera footage from the ICE officer identified as D.F., showing the ICE officer identified as L.G.interacting with Wilber Garcés Pérez in his car.USDC for Western District of TexasTuesday’s court appearance following the criminal complaint took Garcés Pérez’s legal team “as a surprise...