The criminal complaint accuses Garces Perez of striking the officer with his side mirror while trying to drive away during the encounter. He still has a bullet lodged in his back from the shooting, according to his attorney. Federal prosecutors announced the charge Tuesday, more than a month after the incident happened.
The charge shifts the legal focus onto Garces Perez himself, even as he recovers from a gunshot wound inflicted by the agent who confronted him. He now faces one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. Questions still linger about what happened in the moments before the shooting. For his family and attorney, the charge complicates what was already a case centered on a federal agent using deadly force against a delivery driver.