A 50-year-old U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer working in the Orlando area was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony battery by strangulation after police say he grabbed a neighbor by the throat during a dispute that started over someone's driving. Alexander Rivera Rios was taken to the Orange County jail and held on no-bond status following the altercation outside an apartment complex on Raleigh Street.
According to Newsweek, Rivera Rios was identified by sources familiar with the matter as a deportation officer with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division. Jailton Rodrigues told police he came upon Rivera Rios arguing with Rodrigues' wife about her driving, and the confrontation escalated from there. Rivera Rios said he had only been trying to keep the dispute from getting worse and that he grabbed Rodrigues in self-defense after Rodrigues began yelling and shoved him backward.
Officer Says Video and Injury Told a Different Story
Orlando Police Officer Mark Knott responded shortly before 9 a.m. on August 26 to a disturbance report and activated his body-worn camera, per the same account relayed by Newsweek. An apartment maintenance worker captured part of the altercation on a cellphone and eventually pulled Rivera Rios away from Rodrigues. Knott wrote in the arrest affidavit that right after Rodrigues pushed Rivera Rios with his shoulder to create distance, Rivera Rios forcefully grabbed Rodrigues' neck with both hands.
Rodrigues told officers he was unable to breathe for several seconds while Rivera Rios held his neck, and he later complained his neck was sore. Knott observed a fresh red mark on the lower portion of Rodrigues' neck. Rodrigues raised both hands several seconds later as if submitting before Rivera Rios released him, the officer's account states.
Why Police Believed the Choking Claim
Medical and forensic research on non-fatal strangulation shows that up to half of such incidents leave no visible external bruising, which is why law enforcement agencies typically treat strangulation allegations as high-risk assaults even when marks are faint, according to a Hoodline report on strangulation protocols. In this case, Knott based his determination on interviews, cellphone video and the visible mark on Rodrigues' neck, concluding that Rivera Rios was the primary aggressor despite the officer's claim of self-defense. Rivera Rios was placed under arrest following that determination.
The arrest affidavit does not identify Rivera Rios' employer or mention ICE at all, the outlet reports. It notes that Rivera Rios previously worked in New York before transferring to ICE's Miami Field Office and joining the agency in 2007. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to Newsweek's request to confirm his employment, duty status, or whether any administrative action is underway.
Federal Officer, State Charges
Rivera Rios' case is a reminder that federal immigration agents are not shielded from local prosecution for off-duty conduct. Under federal law, ICE deportation officers hold arrest authority for federal crimes, but off-duty state criminal allegations fall to local police departments and state prosecutors, according to Military.com. That is why the Orlando Police Department, not ICE, made the arrest and why the case was filed in Orange County Circuit Court rather than federal court.
Under Florida Statute § 784.041, battery by strangulation is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison, five years of probation and a $5,000 fine, according to the Florida Legislature. A conviction on that charge cannot be sealed or expunged and would require forfeiture of any concealed weapons permit and firearm possession rights while under supervision, per Hanlon Law — a notable consequence for an armed federal officer.
Because battery by strangulation is classified as a violent felony, Orange County judicial procedures required Rivera Rios to be held without bond until he appeared before a circuit court judge, which happened Thursday at an initial hearing, according to The Wiseman Law Firm. Jail booking records reviewed by MrMugshot show Rivera Rios was booked into the Orange County jail on August 26, one of roughly 711 bookings the facility logged that week, with no bail listed on his record.
ICE Says It Will Review the Allegations
An ICE spokesperson said in a statement issued late Thursday that the agency stresses integrity and ethical behavior on and off duty, takes all employee misconduct allegations seriously, and will review off-duty criminal allegations involving its personnel. It remains unresolved whether DHS or ICE will place Rivera Rios on administrative leave or open an internal-affairs review while the state case proceeds; ICE did not have an update on that question at the time of publication, and Rivera Rios had no attorney listed as of publication.
The ICE sub-office overseeing the Orlando area falls under the agency's Miami Field Office and is responsible for immigration enforcement across 11 Central Florida counties, including Orange County, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The arrest comes amid a period of heavy enforcement activity in the state; Florida became the nation's busiest hub for federal immigration arrests in 2026 under the Miami Field Office's operations, per WEAR ABC 3 News.
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