Border Patrol agents defied supervisor's order to end Chicago car chase, crashed into vehicle at 51 mph

On October 14, 2025, Border Patrol agents Benito Nunez, Carlos Chavira Jr., and Jesus Guillen initiated an 18-minute high-speed pursuit through Chicago's East Side neighborhood after claiming a driver had assaulted them during a "consensual encounter" outside a store on East 100th Street. Roughly 15 minutes into the chase, supervisor Alberto Gonzalez Jr. ordered the agents over radio and phone to stop following the vehicle; the agents continued the pursuit instead, with one agent radioing that he was "not certified" to perform a PIT maneuver. The chase ended when the agents' vehicle struck a curb, blew a tire, and crashed into the fleeing SUV at 51 mph near East 105th Street and South Avenue N.

The Department of Homeland Security publicly described the crash as the result of an "authorized precision immobilization technique," but more than 70 hours of body-worn camera video released under a federal court order in November 2025, combined with CBP's own incident reports, showed no PIT maneuver was authorized and that agents disregarded their supervisor's direct commands to end the pursuit. The crash drew an angry community response, including tear gas deployed by agents on residents who gathered at the scene, in a neighborhood already on edge after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González and shot Marimar Martinez five times in the preceding weeks.

Updates

2026-04-30 — Illinois Accountability Commission referred agents for investigation and possible prosecution [4]

The Illinois Accountability Commission voted unanimously on April 30, 2026 to refer Border Patrol agents Benito Nunez, Carlos Chavira Jr., and Jesus Guillen for investigation and potential prosecution over the October 14, 2025 crash, transmitting its findings to the Cook and Kane County state's attorneys' offices and to police departments in Chicago, Evanston, Franklin Park, and Elgin. The commission's 204-page report concluded the agents used an "intentional, high-speed car-ramming maneuver" despite repeated orders from a supervisor to stop, and separately documented that agents deployed tear gas on bystanders -- including Chicago police officers who had asked them not to.[4][5]