A woman arrested by federal agents just north of Harrisonburg on Monday has been charged with a federal misdemeanor of resisting officers. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
As WMRA previously reported, the woman's arrest was caught on camera by her teen daughter, who was riding in the car with her before they were pulled over by federal agents. The video shows the woman being held face down on the ground in the northbound travel lane of Route 11.
WMRA is withholding the woman’s name to protect her privacy while the case is still unfolding. She is originally from Honduras.
She was initially held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail on a "courtesy" hold for ICE, according to a sheriff's office staff member. The woman's sister told WMRA that she was moved on Thursday, and Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson confirmed that she was not currently in their custody.
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Scott M. Stein filed a criminal complaint against the woman in federal court on Thursday, alleging that she forcibly resisted, opposed, and impeded agents in the performance of their official duties. In the affidavit, Stein writes that he and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer "Lam" performed a traffic stop "while on surveillance," as they had an outstanding warrant of deportation for the woman, and observed her vehicle leaving her home in a nearby trailer park.
Stein wrote that when he informed the woman she was under arrest, she pulled away from him, turned around, and moved towards the driver's side door, attempting to reenter the vehicle before Stein forced her to the ground.
"The resistance lasted approximately ten seconds," he wrote. Stein claimed he suffered an abrasion to his elbow and blunt force trauma to his knee, and the woman suffered an abrasion to her elbow and a laceration to her ear.
She has a hearing scheduled for Friday morning in Charlottesville.
