Kaylinn (last name withheld for privacy) said she was in her home near the intersection of Platte Avenue and Cedar Street around noon on Friday, Aug. 22 when she saw several masked men surrounding a silver four-door car. She left her home and walked toward the scene.
She watched and then started recording as a man and a woman were pulled from a car by persons wearing tactical gear and taken into an unmarked vehicle. A second woman and a child in a car seat remained at the scene.
The Pikes Peak Bulletin confirmed that this was an ICE arrest and local law enforcement was not involved. An ICE officer suffered minor injuries in the encounter.
“I heard them yelling ‘open the door’ in Spanish,” she told the Bulletin.
Kaylinn said she did not hear the agents identify themselves.
“I only started recording after they broke the windows out,” she said. Her video may be seen here; viewer discretion is advised.
The video shows there were at least four agents present, some masked and some not, and at least one had a badge identifying him as an ICE agent. Some of the agents appear to have been armed.
ICE has cited the need for masks to prevent doxxing and targeting, as well as for agent protection during encounters.
“They broke the car window and pulled two people out while a small child screamed in the backseat,” Kaylinn wrote on social media when she posted the video. “The child was left in the hot car, terrified, while the remaining woman sobbed in the street. They drove their vehicles away without assisting her out of the street. She was nearly hit by traffic until myself and one other bystander stepped in to help block traffic. We cleaned the shattered glass from her car, buckled the child in, and watched her drive off alone.”
ICE report
[Editor’s note: The Pikes Peak Bulletin does not use terms considered biased or offensive, such as “illegal alien” or “dangerous Guatemalan.” They are included here in a direct quote.]
An ICE spokesperson told the Bulletin that the man arrested was Yunior Romero Ventura, 23.
The spokesperson said Ventura “is a criminal illegal alien with a long list of convictions including aggravated assault, assault, DUI, careless driving resulting in injury, and felony menacing with a weapon.”
“The dangerous Guatemalan, who also has pending charges for domestic violence, harassment, and providing false identification actively resisted officers’ lawful attempts to remove him from a vehicle forcing officers to break his car window. This dangerous illegal alien does not belong in the Colorado Springs community,” the spokesperson said.
The Pikes Peak Bulletin was unable to independently verify Ventura’s criminal history or pending charges. A Colorado Courts record search did not yield any results under that name – though this would not include convictions or charges in other states.
The female passenger in the vehicle who was also detained during the operation was subsequently released.
Do you know Yunior Romero Ventura, or others involved in the ICE action? If so, reach out to Heila Ershadi at 719-373-1150.
[Update 9/5/2025: The Bulletin reached out to ICE seeking additional information on Ventura’s convictions and pending charges since we could not find records in Colorado, the reason he was arrested in the presence of a child, whether he had a deportation order, his current location, and the legal process for him after his arrest. ICE declined to comment.]
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