Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez disputed the government’s explanation for what led to the shooting during a DoorDash delivery in Austin, Texas.
A Venezuelan asylum seeker who was shot in the back by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Texas is facing federal assault charges after prosecutors say he hit the officer with his car’s side mirror.
Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez, 28, appeared in federal court in Austin on Tuesday and was charged with assaulting, resisting and obstructing a federal officer. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
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The charges stem from an encounter that began on September 20 when Garces Perez was delivering food for DoorDash near a shopping center in the Texas capital, Austin.
Immigration officials noticed flashing emergency lights on Garces Perez’s car and conducted a database check, according to a federal complaint filed Monday. They discovered it was registered to Garces Perez, who was the subject of a final expulsion order from the United States.
When the officers approached, Garces-Perez handed him his driver’s license through the partially open window but did not exit the vehicle, according to the complaint. He asked the officers to wait until his wife arrived to retrieve the car.
Court documents describe the previous interaction as “pleasant and non-aggressive.”
But after about a minute, Garces-Perez “abruptly” rolled down his window and drove off, hitting one of the officers in the torso with the driver’s side mirror, according to court documents.
The officer pursued Garces-Perez in his vehicle and quickly caught up with him. The officer alleges in the complaint that Garces-Perez then attempted to ram his car into him, prompting him to fire.
There is no publicly available footage of the events described in the complaint, including the shooting.
But a video has surfaced online showing the aftermath of the car shooting in which Garces Perez was injured.
The complaint is based on unreleased body camera footage from one of the two ICE officers who stopped Garces-Perez.
The second officer was not wearing a body camera, according to the affidavit. The officer said he hit Garces Perez in his side mirror and then fired his gun.
However, Garces Perez gave federal investigators a different account of the circumstances immediately before he was shot.
He told investigators that after a brief pursuit, a law enforcement SUV struck his vehicle, causing it to spin, according to the affidavit. The officer then opened fire, hitting him in the back.
Garces Perez has been held in a South Texas jail since the shooting.
His lawyer, Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, said Sunday that the bullet was still lodged in his body and that he had fractured his collarbone. In a social media post, Lincoln-Goldfinch explained that supporters are concerned that he could develop sepsis or suffer permanent damage if he does not undergo immediate surgery.
But the Department of Homeland Security insisted Garces Perez was receiving proper medical treatment.
Garcés Perez’s lawyers are also seeking to prevent his deportation from the United States.
The Venezuelan entered the United States through CBP One in 2024. CBP One is an online program expanded under former President Joe Biden that allows asylum seekers to make appointments with immigration agents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Trump blamed the app for contributing to the U.S. immigration crisis and ended the program on his first day in office. His administration then relaunched CBP One as CBP Home, a self-deportation portal.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez was legally seeking asylum in the United States and had a valid work permit. She claimed she was ordered deported for missing an immigration court hearing because the notice had been sent to her old address.
Garcés Perez is scheduled to appear again before a federal immigration judge on Wednesday for another hearing on whether he can remain in the country.
The incident comes amid a surge in immigration enforcement during President Trump’s second term, with ICE reporting more than 50,000 arrests in both July and August.
