A federal immigration enforcement action turned chaotic in Albany Park on Tuesday morning when federal agents detained a man, deployed a Taser, and allegedly caused a hit-and-run collision, according to CBS News Chicago.
The incident occurred during the morning commute near the busy intersection of Kedzie and Lawrence avenues.
Residents and parents walking children to school witnessed the sudden disruption on the neighborhood streets.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted a man who was walking along the sidewalk before forcing him to the ground.
Local resident Ellyzabeth Adler told CBS News Chicago she was walking her 6-year-old daughter, Miriam, to a nearby school when the confrontation began.
Adler noted the compliance of the individual moments before the federal agents arrived at the scene.
“This person looked up at the sky and started smiling,” Adler said.
“For whatever reason, he was happy,” Adler added.
“I looked up at the sky, too, and I was like, ‘Wow, it’s a beautiful day,’ and then, out of nowhere, this black SUV pulls up,” she said.
Multiple unmarked vehicles suddenly converged on the location and blocked traffic on Kedzie Avenue.
Adler watched the physical struggle unfold between the pedestrian and the federal agents.
During the altercation, the agents forcibly removed the man’s shirt.
“Two unmarked cars coming down Kedzie cross halfway, and they were right behind us, and I’m hearing Miriam saying, ‘Mommy, what’s going on?'” Adler told CBS News Chicago.
“They’re taking his shirt off,” Adler recalled her daughter saying.
“That’s not kind, why are they taking his shirt off, he has no shirt on,” the young girl told her mother.
The tense scene caused immediate concern for local families who utilize these sidewalks every morning.
Adler stated she had been bracing for another federal incident after a previous immigration sweep occurred in the neighborhood.
Last fall, federal agents used tear gas and arrested multiple individuals in the same Albany Park area.
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As Adler and her daughter hurried away from the struggle, a loud collision echoed through the intersection.
“I can’t say how it happened, but I do know that the police were there investigating it,” Adler said regarding the crash.
Other witnesses told CBS News Chicago that the sound was a federal vehicle colliding with a blue sedan.
The targeted man reportedly attempted to flee on foot before agents used an SUV to barricade the roadway.
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Violet Miller arrived at the scene shortly after hearing reports of the federal activity.
“That agent hit that vehicle to stop him from running past it,” Miller stated.
The impact damaged the civilian sedan but left the driver uninjured.
Chicago Police Department officials confirmed to CBS News Chicago they responded to a property damage call at the intersection.
Responding officers found that an SUV traveling westbound on Lawrence Avenue struck another vehicle trapped in the morning traffic gridlock.
The driver of the SUV fled the scene immediately after the collision without exchanging information.
Chicago Police have not officially confirmed whether a federal employee was behind the wheel of the fleeing SUV.
Further controversy emerged regarding the specific tactics used by the federal agents once they subdued the suspect.
Witnesses observed the agents using a Taser on the man after he was already restrained.
“I will say they had three agents with the man on the ground in handcuffs, already in control, when they did fire that Taser at him,” Miller said.
“They very much had him under control and in handcuffs at the time the Taser was deployed,” the reporter emphasized.
Onlookers expressed confusion and alarm over the escalation of force used by the federal team.
Witnesses noted that no other bystanders were tased, teargassed, or detained during the Tuesday morning operation.
ICE agents eventually placed the man into an unmarked vehicle and transported him away from the neighborhood.
The identity of the detained individual and his current custody status remain unknown.
Federal officials have not released the specific legal grounds for the morning targeted enforcement action.
The hit-and-run investigation remains open as local authorities review traffic camera footage from Lawrence Avenue.
The Chicago Police Department is handling the traffic accident investigation separately from the federal immigration action.
Community leaders often advise residents to remain calm and record video safely if they encounter federal law enforcement actions on public streets.
Local safety advocates recommend that families use alternative walking routes when active police perimeters block neighborhood sidewalks.
The news media has reached out to ICE to ask why the man was arrested, and whether an ICE agent was driving the SUV involved in the crash.
The federal agency has not yet responded to inquiries regarding the conduct of its agents in Albany Park.
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