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Arnoldo Jose Marquez-Pulido tries to grab gun from agent outside a Sam's Club. (Federal Court photo)
A Venezuelan man in the country illegally is being accused by federal authorities of assaulting a Homeland Security Task Force agent and grabbing his gun during an arrest outside a Sam's Club in Utica in Macomb County.
Arnoldo Jose Marquez-Pulido, 33, who entered the country illegally in San Ysidro, Calif., on April 24, faces charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer and being an illegal immigrant in possession of a firearm. He is being held in the Calhoun County Correctional Facility.
Authorities said during the struggle to make the arrest, Marquez-Pulida caused one agent to suffer a contusion
to his elbow, abrasions on his knees and hands, and a contusion to his right cheek. Another
agent suffered a contusion to his knee. Both were treated at the hospital and released.
The arrest happened on March 4 as agents and officers assigned to the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) were conducting surveillance at Sam’s Club in Utica, based on information that undocumented immigrants were working there as delivery drivers, according to a court affidavit by James Ratobylski, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Agents observed a car registered to Marquez-Pulido and determined that he was a Venezuelan citizen who was in the U.S. illegally.
Agents began following him to the area of 18 Mile Road and Van Dyke in Sterling Heights and watched him pull into a business parking lot. Agents turned on their vehicle emergency lights and sirens and attempted to conduct a traffic stop.
Marquez-Pulido stopped briefly, then fled in his car behind the business at a high rate of speed and turned onto 18 Mile Road, ignoring oncoming traffic, the affidavit alleged. To avoid a dangerous chase, agents turned off their emergency equipment and continued to observe Marquez-Pulido from a distance.
They noticed him weaving in and out of traffic. Agents eventually lost sight of him and returned to Sam’s Club.
A federal agent subsequently spotted Marquez-Pulido’s car in the Sam’s Club parking lot. The Venezuelan attempted to flee on foot, and the agent followed in pursuit, yelling at him to stop.
Marquez-Pulido tried entering the store, but the federal agent tackled him outside and tried placing him under arrest.
“Marquez-Pulido refused to comply with commands and began to fight with the special agent,” the affidavit said. “During the struggle, Marquez-Pulido struck the special agent on his left cheek with his elbow.”
“Marquez-Pulido then reached for the special agent’s service firearm, a Glock Model 19 pistol, which was in a holster on the special agent’s duty belt,” the affidavit said. “Marquez-Pulido possessed the holstered firearm in his hand and pulled it toward himself. Marquez-Pulido engaged the holster release lever, removing the firearm from the holster. He lost control of the firearm as the special agent flipped him over, and the firearm fell to the ground beside them.”
Other agents jumped in to assist with the arrest.
The affidavit says that Marquez-Pulido entered the U.S. on April 23, 2024, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California and applied for admission to the U.S. Because he had no visa or other travel documents, he was paroled into the U.S. pending an April 18, 2025, removal hearing.
On Dec. 16, 2024, he appeared before an immigration judge, who explained that he was in removal proceedings. Marquez-Pulido requested time to consult with an attorney. He remains in removal status.
Detroit U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a statement:
“Some say that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is unfair because illegal aliens are all harmless. Today’s allegations break that narrative. High-speed flight from arrest, fighting federal agents, and grabbing an agent’s gun are not ‘harmless.’ And what’s ‘unfair’ is the fact that Americans pay the price for dangerous illegal aliens.”
