Federal prosecutors charged 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez with assaulting a federal officer on September 29, 2026, following a September 20 traffic stop in Austin, Texas, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot him in the upper back.
The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas states that ICE officers stopped Garces Perez after confirming an immigration judge had issued a final removal order against him. According to the Justice Department, officers spotted his vehicle outside a restaurant and pulled him over in a targeted traffic stop. What followed was a starkly divergent sequence of events between federal prosecutors and the defense regarding how a routine immigration check escalated into gunfire.
Contradictory Accounts of the Austin Traffic Stop and Chase
Federal documents outline a confrontation that began cooperatively before turning violent. Prosecutors allege that after officers instructed Garces Perez to place his car in park and step out, he and one agent had a pleasant and not aggressive
conversation. Within a minute, however, Garces Perez abruptly closed his window and drove away.
The criminal complaint alleges that as he fled, Garces Perez struck an officer in the torso with his driver’s side-view mirror. Prosecutors state that he then led agents on a high-speed chase through commercial and residential neighborhoods. One of the officers caught up to his vehicle, and after Garces Perez tried to drive into him, the officer fired his pistol into the vehicle.
That account contrasts sharply with the version provided by Garces Perez and his legal team. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, his lead attorney, stated that her client was working as a DoorDash food delivery driver when he was shot. According to his statement to investigators, Garces Perez knew he would be detained and asked to park elsewhere. He maintained that the pursuit ended when a federal agent’s SUV struck his vehicle, spinning it around before an agent shot him, striking him in the upper back.
Body Camera Gaps and Detainee Medical Concerns
The absence of continuous video footage has intensified scrutiny of the operation. Court documents reveal that the first officer on the scene activated a body camera, but later turned off his camera before reaching the shooting site. The second officer, who ultimately fired his weapon, was not wearing a camera.
Following the shooting, Garces Perez was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he was released and transferred into ICE custody within three hours. Days after the incident, his legal counsel and community advocates raised alarms over his medical condition. Lincoln-Goldfinch noted that the bullet remains lodged in his back.
“He was clearly very confused and distraught. He was in a lot of pain. He had not been given pain medication and he did not understand what was happening.”
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, lead attorney for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, visited Garces Perez at a detention facility in Pearsall and stated that the detained man was in pain and required surgery.
Immigration History and Federal Legal Proceedings
The legal battle surrounding Garces Perez intersects with complex questions regarding his authorization to remain in the United States.
Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of the assault charge. He is scheduled to appear in an Austin federal court for a detention hearing, alongside a separate pending immigration hearing regarding his deportation status.
