Federal agents cornered a Venezuelan man in a New Hampshire court elevator before tackling him as he tried to escape, defeating an elderly bystander in a brawl, wild security footage shows.
The video released Monday by Nashua Circuit Court shows two agents throwing 33-year-old Arnuel Marquez Cormenales on the floor and handcuffing them on February 20th just outside the elevator.
An elderly man with a cane on the elevator with his agent and Cormenales was knocked to the floor during the conflict. He was seen feeling pain in his back.
Another elderly man who was in the elevator with the group tried to talk to his agent while holding Marquez Cormenares down, footage shows.
The agent tapped Marquez Cormenares on the shoulder as he was leaving the elevator. They briefly talked to him before he tried to escape through the door, making it a few feet before the agent secured him to the ground and put the man in the barrel with his cane.
According to Nashua police, Marquez Cormenares had appeared in court to face charges of driving drunk, driving without a license and failing to provide information after all accidents were filed.
Jared Neff, the court liaison officer at the Hudson Police Station, helped agents restrain Marquez Cormenales after hearing a huge stir near the elevator.
“There were screams, ‘Stop it!’ And then there was a big ‘van’ that sounded like people were falling to the ground and struggling to fight aggressively,” he wrote in the case report.
Nev pointed out that Marquez Cormenares was actively resisting arrest.
The agents allegedly worked on an order to detain illegal immigrants, and Neff said they tried to arrest Marquez Cormenares in the elevator before he could escape.
The judge who presided over the arrest of Marquez Cormenales issued a bench warrant when he did not appear, even if he was already under the control of the agent. The prosecutor handling the case had never been contacted by federal agents about the arrest, police said.
Marquez Colmenales was sent to an immigration customs facility in Texas and remained as of Monday, according to an online database.
Judges and other local officials are trying to combat President Trump’s efforts to place immigrant officers in court. Earlier in his term, Trump abolished the 2011 policy and called for agents to avoid public places such as schools, religious places and hospitals.
Immigration officers may arrest them in or near court if they have reliable information that they believe there is or is a targeted alien, as long as they are permitted under state or local law.
With post wire
