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Venezuelan migrant shot by ICE is now charged with assaulting the officer

September 30, 2026 | | Print Article

The Venezuelan national shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has officially been charged with assault on a federal officer.

Media outlets breathlessly covered the shooting of 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was reportedly working for DoorDash at the time he was stopped by federal agents. Activists rushed to Perez’s defense, suggesting that he was merely a food delivery driver who was working and hard and minding his own business when ICE accosted him unfairly and sent him to the hospital with a gunshot wound.

On Tuesday, Fox News’ Bill Melugin offered a peek into the federal complaint against the suspect:

“The Venezuelan illegal alien DoorDash driver who was shot by ICE in Austin, TX last week after a pursuit has just been charged by DOJ w/ assault on a federal officer after Feds say they have ICE bodycam showing Wilber Rafael Garces Perez clipping an officer with his vehicle when he fled the scene of the initial encounter,” Melugin reported.

“Encounter began when ICE agents saw Perez’s vehicle sitting in front of a restaurant with its hazard lights on. They ran the vehicle plates and learned he had a deportation order,” the complaint indicates.

When Perez was asked to step out of his vehicle, agents claim things escalated.

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“They initiated a traffic stop when he left the restaurant. Two ICE vehicles boxed him in. The encounter was cordial; Perez gave his ID, then asked if he could move his car before being arrested. ICE said no, and told him to get out of the vehicle. He then rolled the window up and drove off, hitting an officer with his side mirror in the process,” the document reads.

“This began a roughly 8 minute pursuit in which ICE chased him using lights and sirens. The original ICE agent with the bodycam lost track and pulled off,” the claim continues. “His partner, the other ICE agent, then called him and told him Garces Perez had just tried to ram him, so he shot him. He had no bodycam during the shooting.”

The complaint further alleges that the suspect himself acknowledged that he had disregarded lawful orders by the agents and chose to flee instead.

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Sierra Marlee
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