ICE Officers Bitten, Assaulted While Arresting Man In Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — An El Salvadorian undocumented immigrant appeared in federal court Wednesday after police say he bit ICE officers during a traffic stop and his arrest.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland filed a criminal complaint against Santos Alvarenga-Rodriguez, 47, for assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers in Howard County.

According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 18, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers checked the license plate of a vehicle driven by Alvarenga-Rodriguez. During the plate check, officers learned that Alvarenga-Rodriguez had a restriction code on his Maryland driver’s license. The restriction code indicated that he could not be legally present in the United States.

So law enforcement conducted a traffic stop and positively identified Alvarenga-Rodriguez. Law enforcement told Alvarenga-Rodriguez to get out of the vehicle, but he refused. Alvarenga-Rodriguez then started the vehicle and placed his hand on the gearshift to put it into drive, according to court documents.

The officers continued ordering Alvarenga-Rodriguez to comply with the arrest and eventually engaged him to prevent him from taking off. As Alvarenga-Rodriguez resisted, he bit an officer on his left forearm and injured another officer by cutting the officer’s nose, court documents stated.