Man appears to have a seizure as ICE arrests his wife, but officials disagree

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FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man seen on video having an apparent seizure during a struggle with immigration agents as he holds his wife and crying toddler says he lost consciousness after agents pushed and hit him and pressed on his neck.

Department of Homeland Security officials accused him of faking the medical emergency to keep agents from arresting his wife, who was wanted for allegedly stabbing a co-worker with scissors.

“I wasn’t letting go of my wife because they wanted to take her away,” Carlos Zapata, 24, told The Boston Globe in Spanish. He spoke to the newspaper on Friday, a day after his wife was detained in a chaotic traffic stop.

Bystanders shouted and recorded the confrontation as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded the family's car Thursday morning in Fitchburg, a city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Boston. Agents were seeking Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, who was inside the vehicle with her husband and 1 ½-year-old daughter, according to a Homeland Security news release.

Widely circulated video shows Zapata behind the wheel, his body shaking and the whites of his eyes visible as masked agents reach into the car.

“He's having a seizure!” bystanders can be heard shouting.

Zapata told the newspaper that agents were pushing him and his wife together with the child between them, and that he blacked out after agents pressed on his neck.

“I had convulsions or something. I don’t know what they did to me,” he said. When he regained consciousness, he said, agents were handcuffing him.

Zapata said he and his wife are from Ecuador and entered the country unlawfully several years ago. They have since applied for asylum in a case that is pending and are authorized to work, he said. He was driving his wife to her job at Burger King when they were stopped, he said.

Homeland Security responded to the video Friday, saying: “Imagine FAKING a seizure to help a criminal escape justice,” in a post on social media.

“Medical personnel found there was no legitimate medical emergency,” Tricia McLaughlin, the department's assistant secretary, said in a news release. “He was even caught on video on his feet and coherent moments later.”

The department said officers were conducting a targeted operation to arrest Ojeda-Montoya for the alleged scissor stabbing and for throwing a trash can at her coworker in August. She was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the Globe reported.

Ojeda-Montoya was in custody pending removal proceedings, according to Homeland Security.