A video from Minneapolis shows a Border Patrol agent chasing and pinning a teenager to a snow-covered street after a black Toyota Camry allegedly fled a stop and struck a tree. DHS identified the driver as Joffre Alexander Jara Llangari, 19, and said he and a passenger were arrested after attempting to run from the scene. A witness recorded the encounter and community members blew whistles to alert neighbors to the federal operation. DHS said both had been served notices to appear and will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.
Video Shows Border Patrol Agent Chase and Pin Teen After Minneapolis Crash
Video shows teen chased and detained by Border Patrol in Minneapolis after crash
A video recorded Thursday in Minneapolis shows a Border Patrol agent running after a teenager, pinning him to a snow-covered street between the agent's legs, and detaining him after a car allegedly fled a stop and struck a tree.
What Happened
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the incident occurred during targeted immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Agents attempted to stop a black Toyota Camry that allegedly sped away and later collided with a tree. DHS identified the driver as Joffre Alexander Jara Llangari and described him as "a 19-year-old illegal alien from Ecuador." A passenger was identified by DHS as Rosa Florinda Llangari-Tenecoraa.
Cell phone video shows a teenager being chased and detained by a Border Patrol agent. (Skylar Fehlen)(Skylar Fehlen)
According to DHS, both Llangari and Llangari-Tenecoraa fled on foot after the crash and were arrested. The agency said Llangari had previously been served a notice to appear in 2024 and Llangari-Tenecoraa had a notice to appear from 2022. "Both will remain in custody pending removal proceedings," DHS said.
Video and Witness Account
Skylar Fehlen, a Minneapolis resident, witnessed the crash and recorded the footage. The video shows an agent wearing a Border Patrol vest pursuing a teen in a gray hoodie as bystanders shout and a woman repeatedly blows a whistle — part of a community effort to alert neighbors to federal immigration activity.
Border Patrol agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis when they attempted to stop a Toyota Camry on Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said. ( Skylar Fehlen)(Skylar Fehlen)
Fehlen told The Associated Press she saw the crash from her living room, grabbed her whistle and ran outside. "He yells for help, 'Help me, help me, help me,' and the ICE agent ends up coming, running and tackling him in the middle of the street, pins him down, is speaking to him in Spanish, trying to get him to calm down, and then he arrests him," she said.
In the video the teenager can be heard shouting in Spanish, "Yo soy legal, yo soy legal" ("I'm legal, I'm legal"). At one point someone off camera asks the agent if he has a warrant; the question goes unanswered in the recording. The agent later produced handcuffs and the teen is seen standing with his hands cuffed behind his back before being escorted into a black SUV.
Context
The enforcement operation is part of a larger federal initiative that officials have called Operation Metro Surge. The Trump administration said more than 3,000 federal immigration personnel have been deployed to Minneapolis since December. DHS has reported more than 3,000 apprehensions in Minneapolis during a six-week period tied to those operations.
This account is based on video obtained by local witnesses and statements released by DHS; it was reported by NBC News and The Associated Press.
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