ICE Identifies Two Mexican Nationals Arrested in Red Bank, N.J., After an Enforcement Stop Ended in a Crash
DHS says the driver, Baldomero Sanchez Mendez, had a 2019 removal order and evaded authorities until Oct. 16, when his vehicle hit a government car head-on. Borough officials have called for an investigation of the operation.
Federal authorities have named the two men taken into custody in Red Bank, New Jersey, during an Oct. 16 Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that ended in a crash. The Asbury Park Press reports that an ICE officer and one of the detained men were hurt.
Who they are. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson identified them as Baldomero Sanchez Mendez and Agnelo Medel Robles, both from Mexico. Mendez was driving. Robles was a passenger.
The driver's record, per DHS. The spokesperson said Mendez entered the country illegally in January 2005 and was caught by Border Patrol near Naco, Arizona, then given a voluntary return to Mexico. DHS investigators arrested him in Red Bank in April 2017 and released him, and he faced removal proceedings. In August 2019, an immigration judge ordered him removed after he failed to appear. DHS says he evaded authorities until Oct. 16. He will stay in ICE custody until removal.
The crash. DHS says officers tried to pull the vehicle over, and that heavy window tint kept them from seeing the driver's hands. The spokesperson said the vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a government vehicle head-on, disabling both. A borough statement describes a pursuit of several blocks from near the train station to Catherine Street after the driver refused to stop. Mendez faces possible prosecution for assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.
The local pushback. The paper notes that borough officials have called for an investigation of ICE's conduct that day.
Note for readers: the account of the pursuit and crash comes from DHS and borough statements. DHS had no immediate information on Robles' immigration status, and we have not seen the court or immigration records.