ICE seeks custody of Honduran man after agent injured in Columbia hit-and-run

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have lodged a detainer seeking custody of a Honduran man who turned himself in Friday to Howard County Police after authorities say he struck an ICE agent with his vehicle.

Earlier this week, federal immigration authorities sought an arrest warrant under seal for 18-year-old Jimy Samuel Godoy Alfaro for a charge of assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding or interfering with a federal officer. The charge stems from an Aug. 11 encounter with Godoy Alfaro, whose name appears as Alfaro-Godoy in county court records, in the parking lot of Eataliano Market & Deli at 5325 Phelps Luck Drive in Columbia.

According to court records filed by a Department of Homeland Security agent, an ICE team from Boston was conducting a targeted enforcement operation in Columbia involving an unnamed person for whom they believed had a final deportation order. Agents saw the person get into a lime green Ford Mustang with a black racing stripe and Maryland tags and followed the vehicle to the Eataliano parking lot. The vehicle was registered to another individual whom agents believed to be related to Godory Alfaro.

ICE agents approached the Mustang wearing full tactical gear and identified themselves as “policia” and immigration officers. They asked Godoy Alfaro, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, for identification, but said in the court documents that he refused.

He asked officers if they had a warrant and told them he was not required to provide identification. Godoy Alfaro told police he “was born here,” agents wrote in an affidavit with the arrest warrant.

Officers ordered him to exit the vehicle, but he refused. As an officer attempted to break the driver’s side window with a baton, Godoy Alfaro raised his window and drove off, striking an ICE agent who arrived on the scene and was approaching the vehicle.

Court records state that the agent’s left leg was briefly dragged by the Mustang and his right leg was then pinned between the Mustang and a parked Cadillac sedan.

The agent ended up on the ground but was able to get up and walk shortly after.

Immigration agents called 911. The agent was taken to a local urgent care and later to an area hospital for evaluation and observation. He was diagnosed with trauma and abrasions due to the impact, court records state.

After Howard County Police responded to the scene, they launched their own investigation into the incident.

County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn confirmed that Godoy Alfaro turned himself in to police Friday on six traffic charges related to the hit-and-run incident. He is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center, she said. Court records do not list an attorney representing him.

“This is a standard hit-and-run investigation for HCPD, regardless of any affiliation of the parties involved,” Llewellyn said of the incident.

After Godoy Alfaro turned himself in on Friday, federal authorities filed a motion to unseal their arrest warrant filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

According to those records, Godoy Alfaro came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2021 near Laredo, Texas. He was traveling with his two sisters when law enforcement encountered them. They said they were looking to join their father. The siblings were taken to a juvenile housing facility and later released to an unnamed sponsor, court records state.

Godoy Alfaro has an application pending with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The detainer request could draw more federal scrutiny to Howard County, which stands out in Maryland for having a sanctuary law on the books. In 2020, the County Council voted 4-1 to approve the Liberty Act, which bars the county from committing any resources to immigration enforcement unless required by federal or state law. Voters upheld the law in a 2022 referendum.

ICE has long asked local authorities across the country to detain incarcerated people who are suspected of entering the country illegally for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release so that immigration agents can pick them up.

Around the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, ICE officials pressured Howard County’s elected leaders to detain people in the county jail who are suspected of entering the country illegally.

ICE is also preparing to open a new Baltimore-area field office in Elkridge following a months-long court battle with Howard County leaders, who sought to block the project.

Baltimore Banner reporters Darreonna Davis, Daniel Zawodny and Justin Fenton contributed to this story.