A federal grand jury formalized charges against Venezuelan Wilber Garcés for allegedly attacking two immigration agents with his vehicle, which the Prosecutor’s Office describes as a “deadly and dangerous weapon.” The accusation was filed a month after one of the officers shot him in the back during an operation in Austin, Texas, according to court documents.
The procedure was registered on October 20 before the Federal Court of the Western District of Texas. Garcés faces a charge of assaulting, resisting, impeding and obstructing a federal official, the same accusation that the Prosecutor’s Office had raised in September. If convicted, he could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
“What we can say is that he denies the charges and awaits his day in court,” Fabiana Meléndez, spokesperson for Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the Venezuelan’s immigration lawyer, told Efe.
Although it maintains the initial charge, the new document incorporates two details: it identifies the two agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who intervened in the procedure and explicitly indicates that the vehicle would have been used as a weapon.
The complaint filed in September described physical contact between the car and one of the officers. According to the affidavit, the rearview mirror struck the officer’s torso when Garces drove off during the stop. The formal accusation does not specify when in the incident the alleged use of the vehicle as a weapon corresponds nor does it refer to the shot that wounded the Venezuelan.
The wound remains open
Garcés’ defense also reported on his state of health. Lincoln-Goldfinch visited him on Tuesday and found him recovering and in better spirits, his spokesperson said. However, “the wound on his back remains open and bleeds frequently.”
Melendez He noted that the Venezuelan receives medical attention and hopes to begin a physical therapy process soon.
Garcés remains in federal custody in Karnes County, south Texas. The habeas corpus request presented by his defense to obtain his release and stop his deportation was suspended while the criminal process continues.
Different stories about the operation
The court documents contain different versions of what happened during the intervention. According to the affidavit, the officer who fired the shot called his partner and told him that Garcés had tried to hit him with the car and that he had responded with his firearm.
The officer who opened fire was not wearing a body camera. His partner did have one, but he turned it off during the chase, after losing sight of the two vehicles, according to the file.
Garcés offered a different version to a federal investigator. He claimed that the agent’s truck collided with his car and caused it to spin around. After the vehicle stopped, he said, the officer shot through the right rear window and wounded him in the upper back.
The Venezuelan admitted that he disobeyed the order to get out of the car and that he started the vehicle. He explained that he had asked the officers to allow him to park so that his wife could pick him up, since he knew he would be arrested.
Garcés arrived in the United States in December 2023 through the CBP One application and requested asylum. According to his attorney, an immigration judge ordered him deported in absentia after he failed to attend a hearing.
While the criminal process progresses, the formal accusation against the Venezuelan keeps the judicial dispute open over the operation in which he was injured, the details of which continue to be the subject of conflicting versions.
