ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A stop by ICE turned deadly Tuesday morning in St. Johns County when a 28-year-old man who ran from the agents crossed into the path of a tractor-trailer on State Road 16 and was killed, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said agents with the Homeland Security Investigations division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement were conducting a stop around 6:45 a.m. in the parking lot of a gas station on SR 16 when the four people inside the vehicle ran off.
One of the men tried to run across SR 16 at Green Acres Road but crossed in front of a semi and suffered fatal injuries, according to FHP.
The driver of the tractor-trailer stopped and tried to help the man, but he died at the scene, troopers said. The driver was uninjured, according to the report.
A woman who witnessed the incident described it as a “very scary” sight that will be hard to forget.
“The sounds are constantly replaying in my head of him getting hit,” she said. “I’ll never look at that road the same.”
She said she had her two kids in the car with her at the time of the incident. One of them saw what occurred. She said her thoughts are with everyone involved.
She also expressed condolences for the man, calling the ICE involvement “really sad” and noting that she comes from an immigrant family.
“When I saw that whole situation happen I prayed for that man,” she said. “I prayed for him and I do pray that he is in heaven.”
FHP is conducting the traffic fatality investigation and said it would share updates as information becomes available.
FHP could not comment on what led the ICE agents to stop the people in the vehicle.