WASHINGTON — Appearing before a federal judge in a crumpled white T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, a man illegally in the country asked for an attorney before his next hearing.
According to court documents, Marlo Rivas Mendez, 27, escaped Monday afternoon in Loudoun County, Virginia, when he asked an Immigration and Custom Enforcement agent to loosen his handcuffs, then struck the officer and ran off.
He had been arrested earlier that morning for public drunkenness; police identified that Rivas Mendez was in the country illegally from El Salvador.
Court records show that although he was living in Sterling, Rivas Mendez had been deported from the United States five times before. His first removal was in 2007; his most recent deportation was in January 2016.
A manhunt Monday quickly netted Rivas-Mendez near Old Ox Road. He is facing a federal charge of escaping officer custody.
After accepting his request to have a public defender, Judge Theresa C. Buchanan set Rivas Mendez’s hearing for Friday at 2 p.m.
