FBI charges Damilola Bamigboye after a failed immigration arrest allegedly led to the abduction of a Homeland Security agent in Minnesota
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has charged Damilola Ogooluwa Bamigboye, a 24 year old Nigerian national, with resisting arrest and abducting a United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations agent following a failed immigration arrest in Minnesota, according to court documents reviewed by Peoples Gazette.
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Federal prosecutors allege that Mr Bamigboye, who was being monitored for overstaying his student visa, triggered a dramatic escalation when agents moved to arrest him outside his apartment in Plymouth, a suburb of Minneapolis.
The charges were filed after an arraignment before United States magistrate judge David Schultz in Hennepin County. Mr Bamigboye was charged alongside Rekeya Lionesha Lee Frazier, who investigators say assisted in the alleged abduction.
According to the FBI, an undisclosed number of Homeland Security Investigations agents were conducting surveillance from an unmarked Ford Explorer equipped with emergency lights and sirens last Wednesday when they observed a Kia Optima associated with Mr Bamigboye.
An SUV Jeep then pulled alongside the Kia, with Mr Bamigboye seated in the front passenger seat and Ms Frazier believed to be driving.
Agents said Mr Bamigboye appeared to notice the surveillance vehicle, put on a face mask and moved items from the front seat to the rear of the Jeep.
When agents exited their vehicle, displayed their badges and identified themselves as law enforcement officers, Mr Bamigboye moved to the back seat and refused to cooperate, according to an affidavit by FBI special agent Terry Getsch.
Investigators said Mr Bamigboye grabbed the driver’s headrest and ordered Ms Frazier to drive away as agents attempted to detain him.
One agent entered the front passenger seat to prevent the vehicle from moving while another struggled with Mr Bamigboye in the rear.
As the confrontation intensified, Ms Frazier allegedly started the vehicle, forcing one agent to jump clear to avoid being struck while another remained trapped inside as the Jeep accelerated.
“Agent 1 was now being involuntarily carried in the Jeep as it drove,” Mr Getsch wrote in a report to the court.
The FBI said the agent repeatedly identified himself as a federal officer and demanded that Ms Frazier stop. He later drew his firearm and ordered her to pull over, but she refused, threatening to crash the vehicle.
The agent, who was on temporary assignment and unfamiliar with the area, feared he was being kidnapped as the Jeep drove roughly two miles from Mr Bamigboye’s residence, the filing said.
Meanwhile, the original surveillance vehicle pursued the Jeep with sirens and emergency lights activated. During the pursuit, Mr Bamigboye called 911 while the agent inside the Jeep contacted HSI operations for assistance.
Ms Frazier eventually stopped outside the New Hope Police Department. As the vehicle slowed, Mr Bamigboye fled on foot into a nearby Hy Vee grocery store, where he was later arrested at the rear of the building.
Ms Frazier initially refused to exit the vehicle and was taken into custody after uniformed police officers arrived.
Following his arrest, Mr Bamigboye initially declined to speak with investigators but later admitted wrestling with a federal agent and instructing Ms Frazier to flee, according to the FBI.
He denied that the agents had properly identified themselves and said his actions were influenced by post traumatic stress disorder linked to a prior kidnapping in Nigeria.
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Special agent Getsch told the court there was probable cause to believe Mr Bamigboye and Ms Frazier intentionally abducted a federal officer while attempting to evade arrest, in violation of United States law.
