AUSTIN, Texas — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced an assault charge against a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas, accusing the man of striking an officer with his side mirror while trying to drive away.
Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez , 28, was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, according to a criminal complaint. 20 shooting, made an initial court appearance in an Austin federal court on Tuesday, according to the U.S.
Garces Perez, whose attorney has said still has a bullet lodged in his back from the Sept.
Officers first pulled Garces Perez over near a shopping center around noon, according to an affidavit signed by a DHS agent. A nine-page affidavit from a Department of Homeland Security agent amounts to the government’s fullest public account to date of the shooting in the Texas capital, which has set off renewed protests and outrage from Democrats over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown . Garces Perez has been held in a South Texas detention facility and his attorneys have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal from the U.S. The car had emergency flashers on, and they conducted a database check that showed the car was registered to Garces Perez who had a final order of removal from the U.S. One of the officers, who is referred to only by his initials, was struck in his torso with the driver’s side view mirror when Garces Perez tried to drive away, the documents say. President Trump ended the program on his first day in office.
Garces Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 using CBP One, a program begun under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to make appointments with U.S. authorities to be considered for asylum.
Garces Perez, who was making a DoorDash delivery, allegedly provided his driver’s license through a crack in the window, but ignored agents’ requests to step out of the car, the complaint said. About a minute later, according to court records, Garces Perez “abruptly” closed the window and drove off.
Because the notice was sent to a former address, she said a judge issued a deportation order after Garces Perez missed an immigration court hearing.
Garces Perez was an asylum seeker and had a valid work permit, according to his lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
