Venezuelan migrant accused o officer assault, grabbing gun, evading arrest

The Justice Department filed a criminal complaint this week against a Venezuelan national accused of assaulting a federal officer and grabbing and possessing the officer’s firearm while resisting arrest outside a place of business earlier this month.

Law enforcement officers assigned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Task Force, or HSTF, began surveillance near a business in Utica, Michigan, after receiving information that individuals living in the U.S. illegally were working at the facility as delivery drivers.

Agents observed a vehicle registered to Arnoldo Jose Marquez-Pulido, 33, who was leaving the parking lot, where they determined he was in the country illegally, according to a press release from the Justice Department. 

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After agents attempted a routine traffic stop, authorities say the individual, Marquez-Pulido, briefly pulled over before fleeing from officers at a “high rate of speed.” 

He then returned to the business location, where he proceeded to flee on foot, the criminal complaint alleged.

The HSTF agent proceeded to tackle Marquez-Pulido after he allegedly ignored the agent’s commands to stop and attempted to enter the business, the Justice Department said in a press release.

During the struggle, Marquez-Pulido is accused of striking the agent in the face with his elbow and reaching for the agent’s service weapon, identified as a “Glock 19” pistol. Prosecutors say he was able to remove the firearm from the agent’s holster and briefly wield it before losing control of it as the agent regained leverage. 

Additional officers responded and recovered the weapon from the ground. Authorities say Marquez-Pulido continued to resist before being restrained.

The agent suffered a contusion to his elbow, abrasions to his knees and hands, and a contusion to his cheek, officials said. A second agent sustained a knee contusion. Both were treated at a hospital and released.

He was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in Detroit this week, though prosecutors said they will seek to have him held in custody pending further proceedings.

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Marquez-Pulido is believed to have entered the U.S. at a San Ysidro, California, port of entry in 2024, without a visa or valid travel documents.

Federal prosecutors said the allegations against the Venezuelan national underscore the dangers that some officers face while seeking to crack down on border security and enforce a hardline immigration enforcement agenda that President Donald Trump has prioritized during his second White House term. 

“Some say that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is unfair because illegal aliens are all harmless,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon of the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement.  “Today’s allegations break that narrative.”

“High speed flight from arrest, fighting federal agents, and grabbing an agent’s gun are not ‘harmless,'” he added. “And what’s ‘unfair’ is the fact that Americans pay the price for dangerous illegal aliens.” 

The news comes as DHS officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said assaults on officers have increased sharply, and vowed to pursue individuals accused of violence against law enforcement.

A criminal complaint is an allegation and Marquez-Pulido is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

The incident comes as Senate lawmakers remain sharply divided over how to proceed with fully funding DHS and ending the shutdown that stretched into its 27th day on Thursday. 

Immigration enforcement has emerged as a key sticking point for Democrats, in particular, as they continue to grapple over the specifics of a bill to fully fund the sprawling federal agency.

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Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that he and most Democrats in the chamber were ready to fund “most of DHS,” including TSA, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FEMA, the Coast Guard — but not the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or CBP. 

Schumer, for his part, has also accused Republicans in the chamber of blocking the bill due to disagreements over immigration, prompting a heated exchange with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

“I assume the Democrat leader is aware of the fact that we have tried repeatedly to fund everything temporarily to allow the negotiations over the ICE budget to continue,” Thune shot back.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.