Overview

• Video captured local police and Homeland Security officers stopping a car near the African American History Museum before tackling the driver, who pleaded in Spanish that he wanted to be with his family.
• Officers wearing masks placed the detainee in an unmarked vehicle without answering reporters’ questions, and National Guard troops were visible nearby during the encounter.
• DHS and ICE said David Perez-Teofani had a final order of removal, twice took voluntary returns to Mexico, and reentered the United States three times.
• Fairfax County court records show January 2024 charges of indecent liberties with a child under 15 and aggravated sexual battery that were later dropped; an update shared by NBC Washington cited prosecutors saying the victim and mother did not pursue the case and the charges were nolle prosequi.
• The arrest unfolded during a wider federal security operation in Washington that has yielded hundreds of arrests and renewed disputes over enforcement tactics and local prosecutorial decisions.