The FBI arrested two individuals on Saturday after they allegedly rammed their vehicles into a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vehicle in Chicago, triggering a shooting.
Marimar Martinez, 31, and Anthony Ian Santos, 21, were charged Sunday after federal authorities said they struck and boxed in a CBP vehicle to prevent it from escaping. Both were charged with forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer.
The incident occurred on Saturday morning as three CBP agents, driving a silver Chevrolet Tahoe, were acting as a mobile security detail for an immigration enforcement operation near southwest Chicago. While working the operation, a “convoy of civilian vehicles” started following them, according to a criminal complaint.
Those vehicles ran red lights, blew by stop signs, and broke traffic laws to follow the Border Patrol vehicle. The complaint added that Martinez could be heard referring to those in the Border Patrol vehicle as “la migra,” which is derogatory slang for immigration enforcement officers.
“The convoy of civilian vehicles followed the BPAs closely and pursued the BPAs aggressively, culminating in MARTINEZ, in the Martinez Vehicle, and RUIZ, in the Ruiz Vehicle, driving into and striking the CBP Vehicle on both the driver’s and passenger’s side, respectively, leading to a temporary loss of control of the CBP Vehicle. In addition, once the CBP Vehicle had stopped and the BPAs exited the CBP Vehicle, MARTINEZ drove the Martinez Vehicle at BPA 1,” the complaint said.
After being struck and boxed in by the vehicles, one of the Border Patrol agents exited the Tahoe and fired five shots at the car driven by Martinez, the complaint said. The two vehicles then fled the scene.
Martinez was arrested at a repair shop and taken to a hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds, while Ruiz was arrested at a gas station.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests on Sunday.
“Attack our law enforcement, and this FBI will find you and bring you to justice,” Patel wrote on X.
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That incident followed a pair of car rammings earlier in the week targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who were also conducting operations in the Chicago area.
In the first instance, Miguel Escareno De Loera, an illegal alien from Mexico, rammed his car into an ICE vehicle twice before jumping a curb and crashing into a stop in Norridge, Illinois, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In the second attack, Widman Osberto Lopez-Funes, an illegal alien from Guatemala, slammed his vehicle into ICE agents during an enforcement operation before running on foot to his home in Bensenville, DHS said. He was later taken into custody.