Immigration and Customs Enforcement is offering new details about a chase in Detroit last week that ended with an African immigrant impaled by a fence pole and an ICE officer with a leg injury.
ICE confirmed on Sunday that an immigrant involved in a crash in Detroit three days prior remained hospitalized in stable condition after he was impaled by a fence pole during the incident near Warwick Street and Whitlock Avenue, the Detroit Free Press reported.
An ICE spokesperson told the site in a statement that agents were conducting a vehicle stop during targeted enforcement before a chase ensued.
“As officers attempted the stop, the suspect immediately (and) dangerously tried to evade arrest and struck three government vehicles, pinning an ICE officer’s leg in the car door,” the statement read. “The suspect continued on before losing control of his vehicle and crashing through a fence and garage before the vehicle came to a stop on top of two other vehicles.”
ICE did not name the suspect, but Dearborn resident Sheikh Saad Bouh Sidi Haiba told the Free Press the man involved is his brother-in-law, 23-year-old Mohamd Salim Abdessamed, an immigrant from Mauritania in northwest Africa. Sidi Haiba told the news site Abdessamed came to the U.S. two years ago and is seeking asylum.
Sidi Haiba initially told the Free Press that hospital and ICE officials refused to provide details on Abdessamed’s condition, before confirming on Sunday his brother-in-law was recovering at Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital.
“He is still alive,” Sidi Haiba sent in a text message, noting an attorney made contact through a video call on Sunday.
Detroit Fire was called to Warwick Street just after 10 a.m. on Thursday, where they found the driver of a Chevy Malibu impaled by a fence post that went through the windshield of the vehicle, according to the Free Press.
The incident occurred just steps from the home of April King, 50, whose son DJ Matkins, 28, witnessed the crash. Videos of the crash an aftermath were published by WXYZ on Friday.
Matkins told the Free Press the vehicle went through a fence, doghouse, and wishing well, before landing on a classic Monte Carlo and GMC Yukon in the driveway.
The driver was still breathing and conscious when Detroit Fire arrived, and was taken to the hospital with a portion of the fence pole lodged in his torso, the news site reports.
Abdessamed’s cousin, Massana Mohamedou, blamed the chase on the fact that ICE vehicles in pursuit were unmarked in comments to WXYZ.
“He was just running in fear of unmarked cars,” Mohamedou said. “I mean, just imagine there’s like two or three cars or four cars behind you – unmarked cars. You don’t even know if they were like a gangster, someone’s gonna rob you, you don’t know what’s going on That’s not police cars, these are not sirens.”
Neighbors told the media the vehicles in pursuit did not have emergency lights on.
“My biggest concern is that the garage is knocked off its foundation,” King told WXYZ. “My son’s car, his project is totaled. It’s done. That car is totaled.”
“Detroit police want us to use house insurance for their mistakes, and ICE didn’t comment on who will pay for our damages,” Dajuan Matkins wrote in a GoFundMe campaign to fix damage to the garage, wishing well, and home.
As of midday Tuesday, the campaign had raised $10 toward a goal of $45,000.
The crash prompted comments from Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who alleged “over 97%” of ICE arrests involve illegal immigrants with “no criminal record” and bemoaned the department’s tactics.
“Our local police departments don’t do chases,” she told WXYZ. “They’re prohibited from doing chases like this in communities and neighborhoods. They have policies in place because they know it’s incredibly dangerous.”
Many of the illegal immigrants ICE has removed from Michigan are also incredibly dangerous.
A “Worst of the Worst” Department of Homeland Security database lists at least 285 illegal immigrants removed from the Great Lakes State with prior convictions for a wide array of heinous crimes.
They include criminals from Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Israel, Cuba, Laos, Iraq, Columbia, Canada, Nigeria, China, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Burma, Ukraine, Laos, El Salvador, Sudan, Romania, Peru, Pakistan, Ecuador, Somalia, Vietnam, Jordan, Thailand, Ghana, Poland, Cambodia, Iran, India, Spain, Pakistan, Eritrea, Albania, the Ivory Coast, Dominican Republic of the Congo, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jamaica, Malaysia, and Bhutan.
Prior convictions for the “Worst of the Worst” involve sex assaults, prostituting a minor, cocaine smuggling, DUIs, aggravated assaults, fraud, drug trafficking, hit and runs, lascivious acts with a minor, burglary, sex offenses, immigration fraud, homicide, smuggling aliens, carrying a concealed weapon, identity theft, property damage, resisting police, drug sales, racketeering, domestic violence, negligent manslaughter, flight to avoid prosecution, resisting police, amphetamine sales, cruelty toward a child, drug possession, fondling a child, possession of stolen property, counterfeiting, obstructing justice, trespassing, shoplifting, robbery, failure to register as a sex offender, prostitution, willful homicide, forceable purse snatching, probation violations, weapon trafficking, possession of burglary tools, rape, sodomy, manufacturing methamphetamines, sexual exploitation of a minor, extortion, kidnapping, computer fraud, intimidation, and other offenses.
