A man federal immigration agents identify as a documented MS-13 gang member tried to flee arrest in Alexandria last Thursday, clipping an ICE vehicle and several parked cars before losing control and crashing into a guardrail, according to the agency. Officers caught Walter Alexander Soto-Rodriguez after he abandoned the vehicle and ran about 20 feet on foot, ICE said.
The arrest happened on October 29, when ICE’s Washington, D.C., Fugitive Operations Team took Soto-Rodriguez into custody in Alexandria, Virginia, according to WJLA. The agency described him as a documented member of the MS-13 Gangsters Clique, an affiliate of the broader transnational gang. During the attempted escape, ICE said Soto-Rodriguez weaved around other vehicles before entering oncoming traffic at high speed, ultimately losing control and crashing into a guardrail.
Once officers pinned his vehicle, Soto-Rodriguez got out and tried to run, but was caught after only about 20 feet, the station’s report states. No civilian or law enforcement injuries were reported in connection with the incident, according to FOX 5.
ICE Official Calls Him a Danger to the Region
ICE D.C. Field Office Director Robert Guadian framed the arrest in stark terms, saying Soto-Rodriguez had proven himself a threat well beyond a single traffic stop. “Walter Alexander Soto-Rodriguez has proven to be a significant danger to our Northern Virginia communities,” Guadian said, per the same account. He further described Soto-Rodriguez as a member of a transnational terror organization who showed disregard for human life during the arrest.
The agency also tied the arrest to broader enforcement priorities, saying it reflects Secretary Mullin’s commitment to arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens from American communities and President Trump’s promise to make America safe again, according to the agency’s statement.
Removal Order Dates Back to Last Year
An immigration judge ordered Soto-Rodriguez removed from the United States on May 8, 2025, the report notes. He remains in ICE custody and will receive due process, per the outlet’s reporting.
The circumstances of his entry into the country were also addressed in ICE’s account of the case. The agency’s release states he entered near Lukeville, Arizona, in May 2016, without being admitted, inspected, or paroled by an immigration official, according to ICE.
A Similar Scene Played Out in San Antonio
The Alexandria crash echoes a separate incident 13 days earlier in San Antonio, where a vehicle crashed into the fence of Ridgeview Elementary School after its driver fled on foot during an ICE stop, according to KSAT. In that case, ICE said the driver left the vehicle unoccupied and still in motion, and it rolled across the street, striking another vehicle before colliding with the school’s perimeter fence. No injuries were reported in that incident either, KSAT noted.
