By Jeff Goldman | NJ.com
nj.com
ROXBURY, N.J. — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot out the tires of a car driven by a wanted man on Tuesday in Roxbury after his pickup truck struck a law enforcement vehicle and tried to run over the officer, according to federal officials.
ICE was attempting to arrest Honduras resident Jesus Fabian Lopez-Banegas when the incident took place. No one was injured and Lopez-Banegas was taken into custody, the federal agency said in an emailed statement.
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Lopez-Banegas has been wanted since 2021, when a judge signed an order of removal. His criminal history includes drug trafficking charges, drug possession and driving under the influence, according to ICE.
Lopez-Banegas, who is scheduled to be sentenced March 19, turns 25 this year and resides in Dover, according to court records.
Roxbury police said Landing Road was closed from Shippenport Road to Lakeside Boulevard at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The department provided no further updates.
ICE said the officer followed protocol in firing at the tires of Lopez-Banegas’s vehicle.
“Our officers are facing a 3,200% increase in vehicle attacks and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest vicious criminal illegal aliens,” ICE said in a statement.
ICE didn’t provide context for the statistics.
At a regularly scheduled township council meeting on Tuesday night, some residents questioned ICE’s version of events and expressed concern about the shooting.
Tensions have been high in Roxbury since news broke late last year that ICE is considering converting a vacant warehouse in the township into an immigrant detention facility. Township officials have expressed their opposition to an ICE facility in the Morris County community.
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