A federal marshal and a Mexican man targeted by the immigration authorities were injured by gunfire during an enforcement operation in Los Angeles on Tuesday, federal officials said.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that during a targeted traffic stop, the man, who she said was an undocumented immigrant, tried to flee and rammed a law enforcement vehicle with his car. Officers with the Homeland Security Department fired shots, striking the man in the elbow. A federal marshal was struck in the hand by a ricochet bullet, Ms. McLaughlin said.
The United States Attorney’s Office for Central District of California identified the man as Carlitos Ricardo Parias, 44, who is a Mexican national living in South Los Angeles. Mr. Parias was charged on Tuesday with assault on a federal officer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He is expected to appear in federal court on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
A lawyer for Mr. Parias did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday evening.
The man and the marshal were both hospitalized, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The marshal’s injury was not life-threatening, and he was in stable condition, according to the United States Marshals Service. Mr. Parias was expected to recover, federal officials said.
The U.S. attorney’s office said that Mr. Parias was the subject of an administrative immigration arrest warrant and that he had previously avoided being detained. Federal agents on Tuesday were watching a block near downtown Los Angeles when they saw Mr. Parias leave his home and drive his car down a street.
Law enforcement vehicles boxed in Mr. Parias’s car, and officers ordered him to leave his vehicle, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Mr. Parias then drove his car back and forth, striking two of the vehicles that had boxed him in.
At one point, an agent tried to break the driver’s side window of Mr. Parias’s car, and plumes of smoke formed around the vehicle, the office said. An agent then opened fire, striking Mr. Parias and a deputy marshal.
“A vehicle is a deadly weapon,” Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. “If it is used against federal agents, not only will you face years in federal prison, but you also face the possibility of deadly force being used against you.”
Curren D. Price, Jr., a member of the Los Angeles City Council, said Tuesday on social media that Mr. Parias was known as Richard LA, and that he was a “citizen journalist” with a loyal following on TikTok.
Mr. Price’s City Council office had formally recognized Mr. Parias for his work in August and specifically cited his “tireless efforts to safeguard our neighborhoods from illegal raids and abductions,” according to a TikTok video posted by Richard LA.
Richard LA’s TikTok page had 133,000 followers as of Tuesday night. His page includes Spanish language videos of traffic stops and ICE raids, as well as accidents and the recent explosion at a Chevron refinery in El Segundo, Calif.
If convicted, Mr. Parias could face up to eight years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department.
The Los Angeles Police Department said that it was helping with traffic control around the area but that its officers had not been involved in the operation. The department referred questions about the shooting to federal agencies.
“Resisting arrest puts the safety of illegal aliens, law enforcement and the public at risk,” Ms. McLaughlin said.
Federal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants across the country in recent months. A similar traffic stop in Chicago in September turned deadly after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a fleeing man who the authorities said had hit an officer with his car.
Jesus Jiménez is a Times reporter covering Southern California.
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