Evanston police investigate detention by federal agents of man who turned out to be U.S. citizen

Police in Evanston, Illinois, said they are investigating after federal agents allegedly tried to arrest the wrong man this past weekend.

Evanston police said at 9:49 a.m. Sunday, a caller reported hearing two men quarreling and someone stating that a person would be taken into custody.

Officers arrived at the scene on Howard Street between Dodge and Dewey avenues — or California and Washtenaw avenues on the Chicago side — and found a man on the ground with several people assisting him.

The man reported injuries to his head, neck, and teeth, police said. Witnesses told officers that agents they believed were from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had tried to take the man into custody.

Miguel Angel Olivaries took video from the scene showing agents holding the man down, and at times, it looks like the agents may have struck the man.

"He was saying, ' Let me go using other language,' and saying, 'I'm a U.S. citizen, let me go, let me go,'" Olivaries said.

Surveillance video from a nearby restaurant shows a black SUV parked on Howard. A short time later, another SUV pulls up with its lights on. What happens next is difficult to see or make out, but Olivaries can be seen pulling up alongside a crowd of other witnesses. 

He heard yelling before he says the violence escalated. 

"Actually, I think one of them punched him in the face, because his face was swollen," he said.

Evanston police did not confirm if the person was punched, but the video shows one of the agents walking away and shaking his hand in pain.

Another Evanston police officer found two sport-utility vehicles at Dodge Avenue and Brummel Street, police said. A person in one vehicle, wearing plain clothes and a vest marked "POLICE" with federal law enforcement markings, said he was a federal agent conducting a fugitive investigation, police said.

The agent told police the man looked like another person for whom they were searching, and said the man refused to provide identification, police said. The agent said the man was detained for fingerprinting and resisted detention, police said.

Agents said they later realized the man was not the one for whom they were looking and was a U.S. citizen, police said. The man was released.

The Evanston officer saw blood on the agent's hands, police said. The agent said he was injured while trying to handcuff the man and declined medical treatment, police said.

The agent also told police five federal agents had been operating in separate vehicles in the area. He said the person they were seeking was associated with Chicago and had an arrest warrant out, police said.

For Olivaries, seeing what happened raised a bigger question for him.

"Why so much force? Why are you hurting people?" he said.

The agent said federal agents left the area after protesters began to gather, in fear that the agents would be attacked, police said.

The man who was detained went to a local hospital, where Evanston police spoke with him and documented his injuries, police said.

Evanston police say they are preserving their own body-camera and in-car video of the incident. They're also asking anyone with additional cellphone or surveillance video to come forward.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued this statement early Tuesday:

"On September 20, during a targeted enforcement operation in Evanston, Illinois, ICE encountered an individual who resembled the target. ICE approached the individual and immediately identified themselves as law enforcement. The individual was given lawful commands but was not cooperative and refused to identify himself. ICE officers relied on their training and later left the scene without further incident once the individual finally identified himself. 

"ICE has authority for lawful arrests where authorized under 8 USC 1357. Law enforcement officers use 'reasonable suspicion' to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the statute and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices. 

"DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence. We know who we are targeting ahead of time. If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement is trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability."