Elmer Omar Guevara Martines left home to run errands in Kansas City, Kansas. He ended the day hospitalized, in severe pain, and unable to walk after witnesses said ICE officers chased and tackled him near 8th Street and Minnesota Avenue. His family says the encounter injured his feet, the area beneath his knee, and his tendons badly enough to require surgery.
Martines’ family says ICE vehicles pulled up near him on Sunday and officers began pursuing him. Gisela Ardon, who witnessed the encounter while working nearby, said she saw Martines running with two officers behind him. She described officers breaking a window, forcing him to the ground, and tackling him. His family says he ran because he was afraid.
The harm did not end when the chase stopped. Martines underwent surgery and, according to his family, cannot currently walk. His friend Ronnie Padilla said Martines remained hospitalized and in significant pain. His wife, Gracy Venegas, said she was devastated after trying unsuccessfully to reach him for hours before learning what had happened.
Martines came to the United States from Honduras seven years ago and works as a painter. His family says he had no criminal record, was not under an order to leave the country, and was pursuing legal status. Witnesses say ICE officers chased him through a Kansas City neighborhood and tackled him, leaving him with injuries that required surgery.
KMBC reported that it contacted ICE about the operation, but no agency response appeared in its report. Martines’ family is now demanding answers about why he was pursued, what force officers used, and who will be held responsible for the damage to his body and livelihood.
Elmer Omar Guevara Martines supported himself through physical labor. Now he cannot walk because of injuries his family says were caused during an ICE operation.
ICE did not just interrupt his day. It left a working man hospitalized, needing surgery, and unable to stand on his own feet.
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