An illegal immigrant from Mexico accused of attempting to run over federal agents in Colorado was previously deported six times and has prior convictions for child abuse and domestic violence.
Jose Mendez-Chavez, 31, was the driver of a vehicle used to attack U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they were conducting an operation in Colorado Springs. He remains on the loose. Francisco Zapata-Pacheco, a passenger in the car, was arrested Thursday.
"As a result of their violent actions and to protect the officers and agents onsite, an officer fired three shots into the vehicle. The aliens fled and later abandoned the vehicle," an ICE spokesperson said.
Jose Mendez-Chavez is accused of trying to ram federal agents in Colorado during a raid. (Getty Images; ICE)
No one was injured, ICE said.
The agency also criticized the Colorado Rapid Response Network (CRRN), an anti-ICE group that responds to immigration raids to disrupt the operations.
"It is despicable that Colorado Rapid Response network would show up in defense of an alien who has abused children and attempted to injure our officers," the ICE spokesperson said. "Our brave ICE law enforcement officers are facing an 830% increase in assaults against them as they carry out operations due to the misinformation activist groups spread."
Jose Mendez Chavez and Francisco Zapata Pacheco are accused of trying to ram ICE agents in Colorado. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))
"Mendez was not an ‘innocent victim’ he is an abuser who plays the system and is now wanted for assault on a federal officer," the statement continued.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the CRRN. Mendez-Chavez also has convictions for multiple illegal re-entries into the United States, ICE said.
"He knows he’s not supposed to be here, since we’ve removed him six times previously," an agency spokesperson said.
Mendez-Chavez was most recently convicted in August 2020 of reckless endangerment in Texas and sentenced to a year in prison. In January 2020, he was arrested in Colorado for child abuse.
In July 2013, he was convicted in Ohio of domestic violence and sentenced to 180 days in jail.