Venezuelan Delivery Driver Shot by ICE Has Surgery to Remove Bullet
The bullet was removed after 11 days in his back, and federal prosecutors say Wilber Rafael Garces Perez remains in custody on assault charges.
- On Thursday, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez underwent surgery in Austin, Texas, to remove a bullet lodged in his back for 11 days after being shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on September 20.
- The incident began on September 20 when ICE officers stopped Garces Perez in North Austin; authorities allege he attempted to strike an officer with his car, while Garces Perez claims he was struck by an SUV first.
- Federal testimony revealed the officer who shot Garces Perez lacked a body camera, while the other officer deactivated his device before arriving, despite internal guidelines requiring cameras and prohibiting high-speed chases.
- Facing up to 20 years in prison, Garces Perez remains in U.S. Marshals Service custody after a judge declared him a flight risk and federal prosecutors charged him with assaulting a federal officer.
- Demonstrators have gathered in Austin to protest immigration enforcement tactics, as U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and legal counsel criticized the operation, stating, "Federal agents cannot act as judge, jury, and executioner on our streets.
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48 Articles
Texas federal judge Dustin Howell denied bail to Garcés, for risk of escape, and for "the video evidence showing the defendant fleeing traffic control and running over a law enforcement officer with his vehicle during his attempted escape."
Santa Maria Times
Independent EspañolAUSTIN, Texas, U.S.A. (AP) — A Venezuelan deliveryer who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Texas was operated on Thursday to extract the bullet he had lodged in his back for nearly two weeks.
A Venezuelan who was shot by an immigration agent in Texas was subjected to surgery this Thursday in which they removed the bullet that had been lodged near his column since September 20, informed his lawyers. Wilber Garcés, 28, was injured in the back during an operation of agents of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) in Austin, when he worked as a deliveryman in his car. On Wednesday he was in federal criminal custody, after a h…
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