ICE pursuit ends in Kent Island crash, leaving family seeking answers

An immigrant man remains hospitalized after a pursuit by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ended with a car crash in Stevensville, an incident that’s become a flashpoint in the Eastern Shore community as conflicting accounts about the collision have surfaced.

Ashley Millner, a spokeswoman for Maryland State Police, said troopers from the Centreville Barrack responded to a reported crash at the intersection of Route 8 and Skipjack Parkway just before 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.

A preliminary investigation determined that a Chevy Spark driven by 21-year-old Óscar José Araujo-Mejía didn’t yield to a red light and struck a Toyota Highlander. The impact of that collision caused Araujo-Mejía’s car to then strike a Honda CR-V, according to police.

On Monday, the Queen Anne’s County Office of the Sheriff said in a statement on social media that law enforcement officers in two unmarked vehicles, who were later identified as ICE agents, were pursuing the Chevy with activated emergency lights. They arrived at the intersection immediately after the crash.

However, a relative of Araujo-Mejía’s offered a more harrowing account, alleging that the immigrant from El Salvador was chased through traffic, beaten and detained by ICE agents on the side of the road.

The crash is the latest example of ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics under the Trump administration, particularly during vehicle stops. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it had quietly carried out one of the largest enforcement operations in history in Maryland and Virginia, arresting more than 1,300 immigrants in two weeks without regard to their criminal histories.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in a statement criticized ICE’s mass deportation efforts in Maryland for deploying “untrained” law enforcement officers to target immigrants who had never committed a crime.

“We’ve seen frightening footage of older women being taken from their apartment buildings, workers chased in residential neighborhoods, parents separated from American children — and we are deeply concerned by reports that an individual suffered a broken neck during an ICE arrest,” Moore said.

A spokesperson for ICE confirmed that agents arrested Araujo-Mejía, who has been in the country for four years. ICE said Araujo-Mejía entered the country illegally and had a handful of traffic violations. The Banner was unable to find records of traffic violations for Araujo-Mejía prior to the crash last week.

The spokesperson said officers initiated a traffic stop, but that Araujo-Mejía fled, almost striking an officer before crashing into two other cars following a pursuit. The agency did not respond to questions about whether it had evidence to support its assertion that Araujo-Mejía nearly hit an agent with his car.

After arriving at the collision, ICE agents removed Araujo-Mejía from his vehicle but did not use force, the spokesperson said.

He was taken to the Anne Arundel Medical Center for treatment and was to be transported to the University of Maryland Medical Center for surgery on his spine, the spokesperson said.

It’s unclear which day he was transferred, but Karen Warmkessel, a spokeswoman for the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, told The Banner that Oscar was listed “in good condition” on Sunday. As of Tuesday afternoon, Araujo-Mejía was listed in “fair condition,” said Michael Schwartzberg, a Shock Trauma spokesman.

Conflicting accounts

Despite ICE’s version of events, witnesses at the scene, including Araujo-Mejía’s relative, offered a different account of what happened.

“Help me.” Those were the last words Kevin, 32, who asked not to use his full name for fear of being targeted by immigration officers, heard Araujo-Mejía say.

Kevin hasn’t heard from Araujo-Mejía since Friday — the day he said his relative was chased through traffic, beaten and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the side of the road, contrary to the account from ICE.

Kevin said Araujo-Mejía started his day like any other, driving to work at McDonald’s around 9 a.m. Kevin trailed slightly behind him, heading to his job in another car.

As they traveled down Maryland Route 8, Kevin said he saw several unmarked trucks, sedans and SUVs following Araujo-Mejía’s car. Just as Araujo-Mejía was reaching a stoplight, Kevin said he saw one of the trucks ram the passenger’s side of his relative’s lime-green Chevy Spark.

Kevin said he saw ICE agents surround Araujo-Mejía in front of the Queenstown Bank on Main Street. Three agents pulled his body, which was “gushing blood all over,” from the car, Kevin said.

“They put their knee on his back like they were going to handcuff him and that’s when about three more officers jumped on top of him,” Kevin said, adding that the officers also hit Araujo-Mejía as he called out for help.

Kevin said he never saw agents present a warrant to Araujo-Mejía, nor did they ask him his name.

“They just saw that he was Spanish and started following him,” Kevin said.

‘We’re in anguish’

After the accident, Kevin said an ambulance and Maryland State Police responded to the scene.

According to Kevin, ICE agents, not emergency medical workers, took Araujo-Mejía to the hospital in a van.

Since then, Kevin has only spoken to Araujo-Mejía once. Kevin said nurses and receptionists at both Anne Arundel Medical Center and Shock Trauma have not allowed him to visit. Shock Trauma policy restricts visitation for patients who are in law enforcement custody.

Late Friday, Kevin briefly reached Araujo-Mejía over the phone. Their conversation was short, but Kevin said Araujo-Mejía told him he received 29 stitches for a wound on his head and suffered multiple broken vertebrae in his neck from when an officer knelt on it.

He hasn’t heard from him since.

“The truth is we’re in anguish, not knowing if he’s alive, not alive,” he said. “The worst part is that I don’t know anything about him. I don’t have any information about him at all.”