A 32-year-old man was hospitalized with a concussion and “significant injuries” after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rear-ended his vehicle in Baltimore, according to his attorney and a U.S. senator.
Ever Alvarenga Rios’ vehicle was “violently rear-ended” by ICE agents Thursday morning, his attorneys told WMAR-2 News. Now, he’s in the hospital after sustaining “significant injuries” to his head, chest, back and hands, according to Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
“After the accident, he was detained & ICE now refuses to allow his attorneys to meet with him privately, a clear denial of the due process rights afforded to all under our Constitution,” Van Hollen wrote on social media on Saturday. “ICE tactics are endangering our communities & violating the Constitution.”
The senator described Rios as an asylum seeker. WMAR-2 News reports that Rios is from Honduras, came to the U.S. 12 years ago and was in the process of seeking permanent citizenship.
The Department of Homeland Security responded directly to Van Hollen’s post and said ICE agents conducted a “targeted operation” to arrest Rios. The agency described him as an “illegal alien from Honduras with a final order of removal from a judge.”
The agency accused him of driving “recklessly” and ignoring officers during a vehicle stop.
He allegedly “slammed on his brakes, causing a multi-car pileup,” and “attempted to flee on foot and continued to disobey law enforcement commands,” according to the agency.
Alvarenga Rios and two officers were then transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to DHS.
His wife Lurbin Vasquez said he had a concussion and his arm was in a cast and he was in pain, according to The Baltimore Banner.
His attorney Adam Crandell, who has represented Alvarenga Rios for several years, says he has not been able to visit his client since the incident.
“ICE continues to deny us access to our client,” he told The Independent in an email on Saturday night. “If we were allowed to speak with him, we would be able to update as to his condition.”
He told WMAR-2 News that he was initially told that there was a “medical issue that he needed to be stabilized” before Alvarenga Rios could accept visitors or legal counsel.
“Then the story changed and we were told today that there was an issue with the paperwork,” he told WMAR-2 News on Friday. “Even more recently, I was told that so long as he remains hospitalized, ICE will not allow us access to him.”
When asked about the incident, the Baltimore Police Department confirmed officers responded to a two-vehicle crash just after 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.
“One of the vehicles was being operated by a Department of Homeland Security officer. Both drivers sustained injuries and were transported to a nearby hospital,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.
Alvarenga Rios first entered the United States in 2014 and “has continued to pursue avenues to regularize his status” since his arrival, Crandell told The Independent.
In 2018, an immigration court judge issued him a final order of removal, according to DHS. “He had every chance to leave the United States but chose to continue to break the law and remain in the country illegally,” the agency said in a statement.
The incident is at least the second crash involving federal immigration agents in Maryland alone within the last week.
ICE agents were involved in a crash in Annapolis on Wednesday, according to the city’s police department. No one was injured.
The Independent has requested additional comment from Crandell and Homeland Security.
