Unsealed court documents detail federal arrest in northeast Lincoln neighborhood
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Unsealed court documents detailed the moments leading up to the arrest of a man in a northeast Lincoln neighborhood on Tuesday night.
The standoff with several federal law enforcement agencies drew a large crowd of protestors, as an administrative arrest warrant for Juan Tlatenchi-Mireles, of Mexico, was ultimately served around 6 p.m.
“This isn’t OK,” one person said. “What they’re doing, how they’re going about doing it. It’s not OK.”
According to an arrest affidavit, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement was outside Tlatenchi-Mireles’ home near 32nd and Orchard streets to serve the warrant around 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
The agent said he saw Tlatenchi-Mireles get in the driver’s seat of a red sedan and drive off.
Another ICE agent followed Tlatenchi-Mireles in an unmarked vehicle and tried to pull him over near the intersection of 27th and T streets.
According to court documents, Tlatenchi-Mireles didn’t pull over and continued driving south on 27th Street for four blocks.
The affidavit says that Tlatenchi-Mireles committed several traffic violations and struck the agent’s vehicle while trying to flee.
The agents followed him back to his home, where he stopped the vehicle in the middle of the street, ran inside and locked the door, according to court documents.
Several people who live in the neighborhood stressed their concerns over the situation, but preferred to remain anonymous.
“I’m angry. I’m sad,” one neighbor said. “I’m sad for their family, I’m sad for everything that happened yesterday, I’m sad for the way they were treated. My heart is broken, honestly.”
Jason Stille, Assistant Police Chief at the Lincoln Police Department, said they were called to the crash, which opened a line of communication between the two agencies.
Around 4:30 p.m., LPD was notified that 40-50 protestors were surrounding the operation, and Stille authorized several officers to go “keep the peace.”
“The right time to do it is not 40 feet from federal agents with guns drawn, surrounding a house, because it puts their lives in danger, it puts the person inside’s life in danger, it puts the people that are in houses adjacent lives in danger, and it certainly puts the people 40 feet away from federal agents lives in danger,” Stille said.
According to Stille, three federal agencies were involved: Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals.
“It’s unfair,” one person said. “It’s not going to stop unless we do something to stop it. People are so blind to see, they feel like it doesn’t affect them, but it does, it’s right here.”
Tlatenchi-Mireles was eventually taken into custody and arrested on suspicion of assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
He is set to make his first court appearance on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
“This is probably the most appalling that I’ve seen from the public,” Stille said. “Generally, I’m very proud of Lincoln and the Lincoln citizens coming together, but this, this was appalling in my opinion.”
Tlatenchi-Mireles was previously arrested and lodged in the Lancaster County Jail on Oct. 3 on suspicion of third-degree domestic assault.
However, Tlatenchi-Mireles was allowed to post bond and was released before ICE could assume custody.
According to law enforcement, he had previously been granted voluntary departure and returned to Mexico through a port of entry in Laredo, Texas, on July 13, 2023.
