Scripps News has obtained police video showing the events leading up to the arrest of a 19-year-old immigrant who recently died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Body camera footage shows an officer trying to stop Royer Perez-Jimenez in January while he was riding a scooter down a Florida road. The officer repeatedly called for Perez-Jimenez to "come over here," but he continued riding.
Another officer later caught up to Perez-Jimenez and tackled him to the ground. After the officer told him to put his hands behind his back, that's when Perez-Jimenez said he did not speak English. Officers later attempted to question him, but he struggled to understand them.
"He speaks Tzotzil. It's like, there's no English equivalent. It's like Native American English," one officer said.
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Officers said they stopped Perez-Jimenez after he was seen coming out of a liquor store and crossed the street twice, prompting them to attempt to cite him for a pedestrian violation. Officers claimed he smelled of marijuana, but a search of his belongings found nothing stolen or suspicious. An officer noted finding something that appeared religious, describing Perez-Jimenez as a "holy man."
Using a translator, officers asked why he fled when they attempted to stop him. Perez-Jimenez claimed he was afraid they were going to beat him.
Police ultimately charged him with resisting an officer without violence and giving false identification, which are both misdemeanors. Police also alerted ICE, who said Perez-Jimenez had been living in the U.S. illegally.
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Agents took him into custody and locked him up at the Glades County Detention Center, which the sheriff's office operates. On March 16, ICE said an officer found him unconscious and unresponsive. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
ICE called it a "presumed suicide" without offering any evidence, insisting the cause of his death remains under investigation. Scripps News requested a copy of the autopsy report but was denied because the case remains under investigation.
