PITTSBURGH — A man is facing assault charges after a confrontation with immigration officials in Pittsburgh.
Cell phone video shared with Channel 11 showed the struggle that continued for several minutes.
Federal court papers show Darwin Alexander Davila-Perez is charged with “forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding or interfering with — involving physical contact — certain officers or employees who were engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties."
According to an affidavit, ICE officers were trying to locate and apprehend Davila-Perez after he tried to buy a gun in Western Pennsylvania.
The sale was denied because Davila-Perez is a Nicaraguan citizen with no legal status in the U.S., records say.
On Dec. 17, ICE officers reportedly saw Davila-Perez exit his home in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood and conducted a traffic stop on his truck along Norton Street.
Records say Davila-Perez reversed his truck into an agent’s vehicle before running onto a nearby home’s front porch.
An officer tried to handcuff Davila-Perez, who allegedly hit the officer in the face with his elbow. The two continued to struggle, with Davila-Perez allegedly reaching for the officer’s weapon holster.
Davila-Perez still did not comply and bit an officer’s forearm, records say. Another officer deployed his pepper spray to try to subdue him.
While being handcuffed, Davila-Perez allegedly swung the handcuffs at the officers, hitting one on the forehead.
Records say officers commanded Davila-Perez to stop in English and Spanish throughout the encounter, but he continued to resist, necessitating physical force.
One officer had a contusion on his forehead after being hit with the handcuffs, and another was given medical attention for the bite on his forearm, records say.
A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson told Channel 11 that police and medics were called to evaluate all parties after the incident.
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