ICE agents search for detainee through Mount Prospect neighborhood
Armed and masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted operations Sunday in the area of Mount Prospect’s Owen Park, witnesses and local police said.
Neighbors reported encountering agents the area of Evergreen Avenue and George Street while at least one helicopter was seen flying over the area.
Police said they received a 911 call at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, reporting someone wearing handcuffs while running through a backyard in the 100 block of Mount Prospect Road.
Officers responded and came across ICE agents who said they were in the area conducting an immigration enforcement operation, according to police. The officers verified their identity and left the scene, police said.
Over the next few hours, police said they received additional calls reporting people with firearms in the area east of Owen Park. Officers responded each time and verified the presence of the federal agents before leaving.
Resident Maura Whiston reported encountering the agents, who were masked and identified themselves as ICE.
“Three of them were in an SUV with Maryland plates,” she said. “They said that someone was in handcuffs that had gotten out of their custody and was running through the neighborhood.”
She later saw additional agents in masks arriving in SUVs with license plates from Tennessee and Florida.
Residents said the agents also were on Busse Avenue, George Street, Milburn Avenue and Evergreen Avenue.
Several residents confronted the agents, among them Lisa Porter.
“I was screaming at them, ‘We don’t want you in our town,’” she said. She also told them to take off their masks. They laughed at her, she said.
“They told us that there is a gang member who is handcuffed running through our neighborhood,” she added.
Her husband, Rick Porter, said he also exchanged words with the agents.
“They yelled at me that they were looking for an escaped cartel member and that I was supporting criminals by yelling at them and telling them to get out,” he said.