A Border Patrol agent was recorded on video in Minneapolis chasing down a teenager, locking him in between his legs on the ground, and detaining him.

The video, taken Thursday, showed an agent wearing a Border Patrol vest chase after the teen, who can be heard yelling in Spanish that he is legal.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the incident unfolded as Border Patrol agents were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. They had attempted to stop a black Toyota Camry, but the car allegedly sped away.

The driver, whom the department identified as Joffre Alexander Jara Llangari, then crashed into a tree, the spokesperson said. DHS described Llangari as “a 19-year-old illegal alien from Ecuador.”

He and the passenger, Rosa Florinda Llangari-Tenecoraa, fled on foot until they were arrested, the spokesperson said.

DHS said Llangari had been served a notice to appear in 2024 and Llangari-Tenecoraa had been served with a notice to appear in 2022.

“Both will remain in custody pending removal proceedings,” DHS said.

Skylar Fehlen, a local resident, witnessed the crash and recorded the video.

In it, the agent can be seen chasing a teen wearing a gray hoodie. The woman filming is heard screaming, “Stop! Stop! No!”

The teen was later seen laying on his stomach on the snow-covered street, in between the legs of the agent standing above him.

Someone can be heard in the video asking the agent if he had a warrant, to no response.

The teenager yelled in Spanish, “Yo soy legal, yo soy legal,” meaning “I’m legal, I’m legal.”

The woman filming repeatedly blew a whistle, a community effort to alert the public about the presence of immigration officers.

The agent brought out a pair of handcuffs, and moments later the boy was seen standing with his hands cuffed behind his back, being escorted into a black SUV by three people. The SUV later drove off.

Fehlen told The Associated Press she was in her living room when she saw a car hit a tree and two teens run out. She grabbed her whistle and ran outside and eventually found the one of the teens.

“He yells for help, ‘Help me, help me, help me,’ and the ICE agent ends up coming, running and tackling him in the middle of the street, pins him down, is speaking to him in Spanish, trying to get him to calm down, and then he arrests him,” she said.

Fehlen criticized the federal immigration crackdown that has rocked the nation, most prominently Minneapolis, over the last few months.

“They don’t care about documentation. They’re absolutely taking everybody, and then they end up releasing them just because they’re on this power trip,” she told the AP.

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has targeted major blue cities across the nation. In Minneapolis, there have been more than 3,000 federal immigration personnel since December, in what the administration has dubbed Operation Metro Surge.

Officers have apprehended more than 3,000 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota over the past six weeks alone, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, the Guardian’s Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to the heart of affected neighbourhoods to speak with residents who are fighting to defend their community from violence and intimidation. They embed with ICE watch groups, hear from Somali-American residents, and witness a swarm of federal agents conduct a sweep in the suburbs

A day after Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino was seen in Minneapolis streets, he is calling out local police for not helping federal agents deal with protesters.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol held a news conference on Thursday, updating the public on their immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota.

Bovino spoke out with ICE Executive Assistant Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Marcos Charles.

“Where was Mayor Frey? Or Governor Walz? I didn’t see him around anywhere,” said Bovino.

The two spoke at a podium inside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, alongside Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The building holds the region’s federal immigration court. 

They showed those on screens they’ve detained, who they say are the “worst of the worst,” and asked for Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and everyone in between to help them.

“We’re all on the same team and our cooperation will help save lives,” said Charles. “The people we’ve arrested here are not ones you’d want living next door to your families, children, parents or best friends.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says, as of Thursday, it has now arrested over 3,300 people since Operation Metro Surge began. Those are numbers WCCO hasn’t been able to verify.

When WCCO asked if they have updated numbers on the number of agents in the state, Bovino said he would not give an exact number, “but several thousand.”

Charles added that protesters across the state are trying to defend those who’ve committed crimes. 

Bovino also criticized the Minneapolis Police Department for not helping during Wednesday’s protest. When asked if they called for help, he only mentioned they did at some point.

“Minneapolis Police Department’s been called on several situations that they have not responded,” Bovino said.

In response to Bovino’s claims, the Minneapolis Police Department said it “receives and processes numerous 911 reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity throughout the city each day,” but it has “no record of a request from federal agents for assistance” on Wednesday.

“The presence of protestors alone is not sufficient reason for MPD to respond where ICE activity is occurring,” a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department said.

Minneapolis police on Wednesday did, however, recover a magazine loaded with ammunition that had been left on a sidewalk by a federal agent, according to the department.

When asked about the end in sight, Bovino said, “This mission’s ongoing until there’s no more of those criminal illegal aliens roaming the streets of Minneapolis.”

On Thursday, ICE said in a release its officers and agents rank among the world’s most skilled and experienced.