In October, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer grew frustrated by a “kid” tailing his unmarked Ford Explorer on a motorized bicycle. It was 3:30 p.m. in Northeast Portland.
As the two approached Northeast 82nd Avenue, the ICE officer opened the center console and pulled out his service weapon, he later told police. He told a 911 dispatcher to send local officers or else he would take matters into his own hands.
“I need someone here now, or else I’m going to have to shoot this kid,” said Israel D. Hernandez, according to a recording of his emergency call exclusively obtained by OPB.
Hernandez did not open fire. The suspect, who Hernandez described as being in his late teens or early 20s, ended his chase and fled. The suspect was not identified in records.
The Oct. 31 incident was detailed both in Hernandez’s roughly 5-minute call to dispatchers and corroborated in a Portland Police Bureau report completed later that evening.
When an OPB reporter this week called the phone number disclosed on the 911 call records, a person picked up the phone and said “Hernandez” but hung up after the reporter identified himself.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to multiple questions about whether they were aware of the incident or Hernandez’s status in the agency.
A spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau declined to answer questions about the specifics of the case. The bureau acknowledged that it does maintain regular contact with Homeland Security and other federal departments but does not cooperate on immigration enforcement.
The exchange occurred during a tense period between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the city of Portland. The Trump administration had sharply ramped up its immigration enforcement that fall. Meanwhile, the president was attempting to deploy the National Guard to the embattled ICE facility in the city’s South Waterfront.
Concerns about violence committed by federal immigration officers have been particularly high in recent months.
A group of teens had been stopped at gunpoint by ICE officers at a Dutch Bros in Hillsboro in early October, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Then, in January, two people in Portland were shot and wounded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis were shot and killed by ICE officers.
It’s not immediately clear how the Oct. 31 interaction began. Hernandez self-identified as an ICE officer in the call. He later told police that the suspect likely saw “gear with U.S. Immigration and Customs identification” in his SUV. Hernandez initially thought he was going to ask for money and waved him away.
“The suspect started to yell at Hernandez about being ‘ICE’ and started to punch the window of the vehicle,” Portland Police Officer Jason Straub wrote in his police report.
When he called the 911 dispatcher, Hernandez said, “Some kid is punching my window, and I need assistance right now.”
When a dispatcher asked why someone would punch Hernandez’s window, he responded: “Well, because I work for ICE, I guess.”
A police record filed that evening lists an “unidentified person” as a suspect. Officers believed the suspect had also broken the SUV’s side-view mirror by punching it during the encounter. Straub wrote there was probable cause for second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree disorderly conduct charges, both misdemeanors.
Seconds after telling dispatchers he might open fire, Hernandez took an urgent tone, telling dispatchers: “Hurry up, this kid’s over here by the goddamn window again.”
Shouting can be heard in the background as Hernandez rattled off passing intersections. His car approached Northeast 82nd Avenue and Northeast Prescott Street.
“I’m going to have to act on this kid right now,” he told dispatchers. The dispatcher encouraged Hernandez to get away safely. She suggested he go somewhere “highly populated.”
At one point, an electronic chime breaks into the call, suggesting Hernandez had opened his door while the SUV’s engine ran. He acknowledged to the dispatcher that he was planning to get out of his vehicle. The dispatcher interjected.
“Why? You can drive away. We have officers en route to you,” the dispatcher said. “I don’t want you guys getting into any more of a dispute.”
While some shouting can be heard in the background, Hernandez left the call going while he stepped away from the phone. The call continued for three-and-a-half more minutes, records showed, before it disconnected. Hernandez didn’t pick up when a dispatcher tried calling him back.
Hernandez later told police who responded that the suspect said “I’m going to kill you” to him before he fled the scene. Records show the first officer arrived around 4 p.m.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.