Feds ram SUV in chase down residential street in Chicago, then tear-gas crowd

Border patrol agents were involved in a high-speed chase down a residential street in the East Side neighborhood Tuesday morning, resulting in a crash with a moving vehicle and a foot chase with the occupants inside the car.

Federal agents then deployed tear gas to disperse a large crowd that gathered in protest of the federal agents, and forcibly detained several protesters.

Border patrol agents were conducting an immigration enforcement operation when a driver, who is in the U.S. without legal status, “rammed” the federal vehicle, leading to a pursuit that ended with the agents performing a precision immobilization technique maneuver to stop the car, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Chicago Sun-Times has not independently verified the DHS account of the pursuit that led to the crash.

The crash happened about 11 a.m. at 105th Street and Avenue N. It’s unclear if anyone was injured. Security video shared with the Sun-Times appears to show federal agents in a white SUV tailing a red SUV before colliding into the rear end of the car, causing the car to spin out.

After the red vehicle stopped, the driver and passenger can be seen falling out of the car and fleeing the scene in different directions while being chased on foot by three federal agents who jumped out of the white SUV.

The driver and passenger of the red SUV, who are both in the U.S. without legal status, were arrested after a brief chase, a DHS spokesperson said.

A crowd of people then gathered at the crash scene in protest. Federal agents could be seen spraying tear gas at protesters before leaving the scene about an hour later. At least four protesters were detained.

A Chicago police spokesperson said officers responded to a call of a car accident involving federal authorities and documented the crash, but did not assist the federal operation. Officers stayed at the scene to try to de-escalate tensions between protesters and federal agents.

Some protesters threw objects at federal agents, causing them to deploy tear gas into the street. Thirteen Chicago Police Department members were exposed to tear gas, according to police.

Tenth Ward Ald. Peter Chico, whose ward covers the scene of the crash and protest, said he didn’t see anyone throw rocks at the federal agents as some people have said. But he did see two people get detained, he told reporters at the scene.

“I got here as everything was happening,” Chico said. “My main concern was getting the vehicle removed from the situation.”

He added that he’s getting updates from City Hall but doesn’t know much about the people detained or why the chase started. Based on the quick and extensive community response to the crash, he said the aftermath could spill into the coming days and weeks.

Destiny Salazar, 20, said she came to protest the immigration operation after the crash. A protester in the crowd threw something at agents, and agents threw tear gas canisters into the crowd, she said. She, along with much of the crowd, turned around to run away from the chemical irritants.

When she looked back, she saw her 16-year-old cousin and 19-year-old boyfriend “slammed to the ground” and handcuffed by masked federal agents.

“They were pushed to the ground really hard, and I don’t think it was that necessary because they didn’t throw nothing,” Salazar said. “They threw him to the ground, and as he was saying ‘my neck, my neck.’ He just kept pushing him down more and more.”

The aggressive immigration tactics seen in the area recently are harmful, Salazar said, and the response to protests has intensified tensions.

“They shouldn’t be out here at all,” she said. “They attacked two young kids who were peacefully protesting for their community.”

After receiving several panicked phone calls, Juanita Garnica rushed to the scene from work with tears in her eyes. Her 16-year-old son was detained by federal agents, and she didn’t know where he was or what charges he faced.

“They took my son in a white van,” she said. “They took my son; he’s only 16. He was violated. They said they slammed him to the ground. I just want my baby back.”

Her son was born and raised in Chicago, she said. No one from Border Patrol or any other federal agency called to inform her of her son’s arrest, she said.

“I have nobody to call; I don’t know what to do,” she said. “Nobody called me, nobody did anything.”

Salazar’s cousin and boyfriend were taken in a vehicle, and she and her friends were tracking their phone locations as they moved around the city.

Salazar said neither her cousin nor her boyfriend threw anything at the agents.

“I don’t think anyone should be going through this,” she said, through sobs.

In a statement, local state Sen. Elgie Sims said he was monitoring the situation and called the use of chemical agents in his district, “unjust.”

“No person should be targeted by the color of their skin, and no group should be attacked for standing up for what is right,” Sims said. “Let me be clear: Now is not the time for hate and divisiveness. Now is the time to stand united as a community and to protect our neighbors.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.