Honduran Man Fleeing ICE Dies on Virginia Highway

A Honduran man was fatally struck by a pickup truck on a Virginia highway after fleeing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop, authorities said. It happened Thursday morning on Interstate 264 near the Military Highway interchange in Norfolk. Virginia State Police identified the man as 24-year-old Jose Castro-Rivera and said he died at the scene after attempting to cross the interstate on foot, CBS News reports.

Officials said the pursuit was initiated by ICE, though state police were not involved in the original stop and are now investigating. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents had stopped the vehicle as part of what they called a "targeted, intelligence-based immigration enforcement operation." After determining that the occupants were in the country illegally, the department said, agents began making arrests.

Officials said Castro-Rivera "resisted heavily" and fled, running into traffic. An agency spokesperson said three other individuals from the vehicle were taken into custody and informed of Castro-Rivera's death, adding that the officer then "grieved and prayed with them," per the New York Times. Castro-Rivera, who had been in the US since 2021, was on his way to his job as a handyman, said his brother, Henry Castro.