A manhunt has been launched for a convicted pedophile migrant who attempted to plow into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last week, KMGH-TV reports.
Jose Mendez-Chavez, a Mexican national who has entered the U.S. illegally at least a half-dozen times, was identified as the driver in the incident that took place in Colorado Springs last Thursday (July 31).
“Mendez was not an ‘innocent victim,’” an ICE spokesperson told KMGH-TV. “He is an abuser who plays the system and is now wanted for assault on a federal officer.”
The incident took place after ICE agents conducted a raid at a construction site in Black Forest. The agents reportedly fired three shots as Mendez-Chavez and a passenger, identified as Francisco Zapata-Pacheco, fled the scene in a vehicle.
Zapata-Pacheco, who was arrested in the vehicle and identified hours later, is being held for deportation proceedings, according to KMGH-TV. ICE called the Colorado Rapid Response Network, a group that notifies migrants about pending federal raids in the area, "despicable" for its role in the incident.
“Two criminal aliens attempted to ram their vehicle into ICE officers during a targeted enforcement operation in Colorado Springs,” a department spokesperson said via KMGH-TV.
“ICE officers are facing an 830% increase in assaults,” the department added. “Lies and violent rhetoric incite hostility against the brave men and women of ICE who put their lives on the line every day to protect American communities, as we witnessed in Colorado.”