Venezuelan immigrant accused of assault, possession of a firearm, evading arrest

The Justice Department filed charges this week against a Venezuelan man accused of assaulting a government official and grabbing the officer’s gun when he resisted arrest outside a business earlier this month.

Police assigned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Task Force, or HSTF, began patrolling a business in Utica, Michigan, after receiving information that people living in the US illegally were working at the facility as delivery drivers.

Agents saw a car registered to Arnoldo Jose Marquez-Pulido, 33, who was leaving the parking lot, where they discovered that he was in the country illegally, according to a statement issued by the Department of Justice.

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After agents attempted to conduct a traffic stop, authorities say the person, Marquez-Pulido, briefly left the scene before fleeing from police at a “high rate of speed.”

He then returned to the business premises and fled on foot, the criminal complaint alleges.

The HSTF agent continued to confront Marquez-Pulido after he allegedly ignored the agent’s orders to stop and try to enter the business, the Justice Department said in a statement.

During the struggle, Marquez-Pulido is accused of elbowing the agent in the face and taking the agent’s weapon, identified as a Glock 19. Prosecutors say he was able to get the gun off the agent and use it for a while before losing control as the agent regained control.

More officers responded and found the weapon on the ground. Authorities say Marquez-Pulido continued to resist before being restrained.

The agent suffered bruises on his elbow, bruises on his knee and hands, and bruises on his cheek, officials said. The second agent took a knee. Both were treated at the hospital and released.

He was scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in Detroit this week, although prosecutors said they would seek to keep him in custody as the trial continues.

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Citizens and federal and Border Patrol agents are seen in California in this June 19, 2025 photo. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Marquez-Pulido is believed to have entered the US at the San Ysidro, California, port of entry in 2024, without a visa or valid travel documents.

Federal prosecutors say the allegations against the Venezuelan national underscore the dangers some officials face as they seek to tighten border security and enforce the tough immigration agenda President Donald Trump has put forward in his second term in the White House.

“Some argue that enforcing our nation’s laws is wrong because illegal aliens are not dangerous,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon of the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement. “Today’s allegations shatter that narrative.”

“Flying at high speed from arrest, fighting with federal agents, and holding an agent’s gun is ‘harmless,'” he added. “And what is ‘wrong’ is that Americans pay the price for dangerous illegal aliens.”

The news comes as DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said attacks on police have increased, and vowed to go after people accused of violence against law enforcement.

The criminal complaint is allegation and Marquez-Pulido is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

The incident comes as Senate lawmakers remain divided over how to keep DHS fully funded and end the shutdown that was extended into its 27th day Thursday.

Immigration enforcement has emerged as a key issue for Democrats, in particular, as they continue to wrestle with the details of a bill to fully fund the administration.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he and most Democrats in the chamber are ready to support “most of DHS,” including the TSA, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FEMA, Coast Guard — but not the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or CBP.

Schumer, on the other hand, also accused Republicans in the chamber of blocking the bill due to disagreements over immigration, which led to a spat with the Senate Majority Leader. John Thune, RS.D.

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“I think the Democrat leader knows that we have tried many times fund everything temporarily to allow negotiations on the ICE budget to continue,” Thune responded.

Alex Miller of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.