A 32-year-old Mexican national was arrested Wednesday after allegedly dragging an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with his car while trying to escape an arrest in Chicago Heights, federal officials said. Jose Garnica-Naranjo was detained a day after resisting an immigration enforcement operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
ICE officers saw Garnica-Naranjo leave a home Tuesday morning and followed his vehicle before attempting a traffic stop, DHS said. When officers approached, they told him to turn off the engine. He allegedly refused.
Officers then tried to remove him from the car. DHS said Garnica-Naranjo accelerated and fled while a Chicago-based Enforcement and Removal Operations officer was partly inside the vehicle through the driver’s-side window.
Authorities said Garnica-Naranjo drove over a raised, tree-planted median, throwing the officer from the car. As he fled, the vehicle struck the officer, who was taken to a local hospital with bruises, cuts and scrapes on his legs. Tests found no broken bones, and he has since been released.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the officer had been hospitalized after being assaulted with the vehicle. He also said assaults against ICE officers had increased by more than 1,600%.
ICE said Garnica-Naranjo has prior convictions for domestic violence and assault. Mullin blamed what he called anti-ICE rhetoric from Democratic officials, including Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and urged state and local leaders to cooperate with the agency.
