Peruvian Man With Deportation Order Flees ICE Agents, Strikes Officer With Van

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was hospitalized Monday after being hit by a van during an attempted arrest in Stafford Township, New Jersey, and then fired his weapon at the fleeing driver, authorities confirmed.

The incident unfolded around 9:30 a.m. along Route 72 near Mermaid Drive in the Manahawkin community, less than 10 miles from Long Beach Island.

ICE agents had moved in to arrest Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, a Peruvian national who had been issued a final deportation order on January 30, 2026, and ordered to leave the country by that date.

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Officer Pinned Against Vehicle Before Opening Fire

Surveillance footage obtained by NBC10 shows a white van stopped at a red light as several law enforcement vehicles closed in around it. Agents stepped out and approached the van on foot.

Moments later, the driver forced the vehicle through the gap between an agent and the surrounding cars, sideswiping the officer in the process.

Witness Payton Johnson, a Stafford Township resident who saw the confrontation firsthand, described what he watched unfold. He said agents told the driver to roll down his window, but the van began inching forward, making the situation visibly tense.

Then the driver accelerated suddenly, pinning the lower half of the officer’s body against another vehicle. The agent, in the midst of being struck, drew his firearm and discharged it at the van.

Sources told NBC10 that bullets hit the van and may have blown out its rear window. The driver did not stop and remained at large as of Monday afternoon. Authorities said it was unclear whether Castillo-Ormeno was actually behind the wheel at the time of the stop, and the condition of the driver is unknown.

FBI Takes Over as Investigation Escalates

The injured ICE agent was transported to a local hospital. Officials said he is expected to recover, though no formal statement on the extent of his injuries was released.

Stafford Township police clarified that because this was an ICE operation, they were not conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting itself. Instead, local officers managed traffic and secured the crime scene. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office launched a preliminary review, but the FBI has since assumed control of the investigation.

In a statement to NBC10, an ICE spokesperson described Castillo-Ormeno as an illegal alien from Peru who had been released into the country under the Biden administration. The statement emphasized that the driver weaponized his vehicle against a federal officer and called attention to what the agency described as a dramatic rise in vehicle attacks on its personnel, citing a 3,300 percent increase in such incidents against ICE officers.

New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew issued a statement expressing support for the injured agent and defending the work of ICE officers. He said agents put their lives on the line daily to enforce immigration law and criticized what he described as ongoing efforts to demonize law enforcement.

The search for the van and its driver continued on Monday. The FBI has not released additional details, and CNN said it reached out to both ICE and the bureau for further comment.