Federal agents chased and detained a man Tuesday morning in Albany Park, crashing into a woman’s car during the pursuit and threatening residents who gathered at a chaotic scene.
A Sun-Times reporter witnessed the scene and its aftermath.
The arrest comes amid a continued effort by federal immigration authorities to carry out arrests in the Chicago area, months after the end of Operation Midway Blitz — the Trump administration’s pummeling deportation campaign that led to thousands of arrests.
From the start of this year through mid-March, 580 people have been detained in the Chicago area, according to a Sun-Times/WBEZ analysis of data from the Deportation Data Project.
Tuesday’s incident started at 8:07 a.m., when a black Nissan SUV carrying one agent turned east onto Lawrence Avenue from Kedzie Avenue, chasing a shirtless man. A second black Nissan SUV carrying more agents then pulled out of a nearby parking lot and hit a woman’s car in an apparent effort to block the man from running.
The agents were wearing Department of Homeland Security badges and patches associated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Three agents ultimately wrestled the man to the ground as he screamed for help, asking agents to get off him as he was held under the front bumper of one of the SUVs. One agent then shocked him with a Taser.
The agent also aimed the weapon at bystanders and a journalist. Another agent pulled out a can of pepper spray and pointed it at the crowd as he waved away passing vehicles.
During the scuffle, an agent dropped a fully loaded bullet magazine onto the street. A supervisor picked it up minutes later, after other agents had left.
As the man was being detained, agents threatened to arrest the woman whose car had been struck. She had been stopped at a red light.
A few dozen people showed up and faced off with the seven federal agents who arrived in five unmarked vehicles equipped with emergency lights. Onlookers filmed on their cellphones, blew whistles and screamed at the agents.
One agent had a Jerusalem cross sticker on the back of his phone, a Christian symbol dating to the Crusades that more recently has gained popularity among the far-right and white supremacist groups. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was criticized for having a chest tattoo of a Jerusalem cross in the weeks before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration. He countered with a since-deleted post on X, saying, “Anti-Christian bigotry in the media on full display.”
Chicago police officers who arrived minutes after the arrest spoke to witnesses and made a report. An officer and said detectives would take over the investigation if the crash was deemed a hit-and-run.
“[The agents] didn’t want to show us proof of that,” one officer said to the woman whose car was hit.
The woman driving this Honda Fit was stopped at a red light on West Lawrence Avenue at North Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park when her right rear fender was struck by a car driven by federal agents Tuesday morning. The agents were pursuing a man they soon arrested and then tased.
Violet Miller/Sun-Times
DHS and ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When federal agents left the scene, they drove south toward the Irving Park neighborhood.
In a video posted to social media, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) confirmed the man was detained and warned residents as nearby schools hosted outdoor activities. Rodriguez Sanchez suspected that federal vehicles had been parked and circling near Haugan Elementary School the morning before.
“They took a neighbor from Kedzie and Lawrence,” she said. “We’re trying to keep an eye on everything because there are a few graduations and field days today. Please be careful, take care of yourself if you’re vulnerable, they’re outside in the community right now.”
Tuesday’s arrest happened at the same intersection where federal agents detained a man on Halloween in October while firing pepper balls at residents. It’s just blocks from where agents detained another man and used tear gas two weeks earlier.
