Federal prosecutors have charged Rosario Carrillo Lopez after an incident involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle in Gary on October 13. According to allegations, Carrillo Lopez hit the ICE vehicle while attempting to evade arrest following the drop-off of his child at school.
The charges were unsealed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. Carrillo Lopez faces accusations of forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, or interfering with a federal officer performing official duties. Specifically, the charge states that he assaulted officers using his SUV as a “deadly weapon.”
Carrillo Lopez’s attorney, Roxanne Mendez Johnson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Background details from court documents reveal that Gary Police had previously alerted ICE after Carrillo Lopez presented officers with his Mexican Consulate identification card. Special Agent Steven Moran of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations stated that upon running his information, agents discovered Carrillo Lopez was in the U.S. illegally and had a prior arrest for a narcotics offense. However, formal charges related to that arrest were not immediately available from Lake County records.
ICE agents monitored the Gary address listed on Carrillo Lopez’s identification and followed his SUV when he appeared to take his child to school. The agents, all wearing body armor labeled “Police” and at least one displaying an “ICE badge patch,” stopped Carrillo Lopez’s vehicle on Clark Road between 5th and 6th Avenues.
When stopped, an agent identified himself as being from “Homeland Security.” Carrillo Lopez asked, in English, the reason for the traffic stop but refused to turn off his vehicle. Two agents were positioned on each side of the SUV, and when one attempted to unlock the driver’s door through a half-open window, Carrillo Lopez accelerated over a curb.
He led agents on a brief high-speed chase lasting two blocks before they blocked his path near the entrance to the Willows apartments. During the escape attempt, Carrillo Lopez forcibly side-swiped one government vehicle, damaging its side passenger bumper and wheel well.
Following the incident, immigration agents contacted Gary Police to report the collision. Cmdr. Tom Pawlak of Gary Police confirmed ICE agents had targeted the individual and attempted to stop his car around 9 a.m. Pawlak explained that when agents approached the vehicle and asked the driver to step out, the man put his car in gear, rammed one of the ICE vehicles, drove over a curb, and fled the scene.
The incident occurred approximately three blocks south of Gary Lighthouse Charter High School, located at 725 Clark Road on the city’s west side. Pawlak noted that Gary police were not involved in the arrest attempt but did take an accident report filed by ICE agents at the police station.
For further updates, contact [email protected].
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/feds-say-man-clipped-ice-vehicle-during-attempted-arrest-in-gary-records/
