Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd spoke to reporters Tuesday after he said an ICE agent was attacked and injured while trying to take a man into custody.
The sheriff said the incident unfolded Tuesday morning on Reynolds Road in Lakeland.
Two ICE agents had followed Denis Corea Miranda, 21, out to Reynolds Road due to him having a warrant for deportation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities said Miranda was in a vehicle with two other people, who were also not supposed to be in the country. Miranda was in the passenger seat of the vehicle.
An ICE agent walked to the passenger side of the car and informed Miranda that they were going to take him into custody. It was at that point that a fight began, Judd said.
“I’m told that the fight lasted about five minutes,” the sheriff said, later emphasizing that five minutes is a “very long tussle.”
Officials said Miranda was on top of the ICE agent when the second agent sprayed Miranda with pepper spray. Miranda then ran into the woods, according to Judd.
The ICE agents chased after Miranda but said they lost him in the woods. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office was then called to assist, launching a helicopter, drones, and sending out K-9 teams.
“They were just overwhelmed. The issue is ICE needs help,” Judd said, explaining that the agents were also monitoring the two other people in the car.
The ICE agent who got into a fight with Miranda was taken to the hospital to be treated for a shoulder injury, but is expected to be OK.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve had an ICE agent injured in the line of duty, and he was significantly injured; he had to go to the hospital,” Judd said.
An employee at a nearby business eventually encountered Miranda hiding among several steel drums, according to officials. Judd said Miranda asked the employee for water, but the employee felt something was off.
The employee went inside and called 911, alerting law enforcement officers to Miranda’s location. Authorities said Miranda was arrested soon after.
Judd held up a photo showing deputies taking Miranda, who was smiling, into custody.
“We have him under arrest. He’s smiling,” the sheriff said. “I bet we’ve wiped the smile off his face.”
According to the sheriff’s office, Miranda faces a slew of charges, which all have been upgraded to more serious felonies due to Florida’s recently passed immigration legislation.
The charges against him include battery of a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, resisting without violence, false imprisonment, and burglary of an occupied structure.
Judd said the two other people who were in the car with Miranda cooperated with law enforcement and were taken into ICE custody.
According to officials, Miranda, who is from Nicaragua, is believed to have entered the country in 2021. Judd said he was stopped by border patrol but later released with a court date.
Miranda was arrested in July 2024 in Galveston, Texas, for DUI, but was released and never showed up for court, according to authorities.
“This guy just wanted to get away and he was going to do whatever he needed to do to get away,” Judd said, referring to Miranda.