Arrested after day-long stand-off

SOUTH BURLINGTON –  A dangerous illegal alien, wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, crashed into law enforcement vehicles and fled the scene in South Burlington this morning, officials said.

The suspect, Devyi D. Corona-Sanchez, 24, who is in the country illegally, was taken into custody at 337 Dorset Street late Wednesday afternoon after federal agents applied for both a federal search warrant and arrest warrant, officials said.

ICE agents forced open the door and went inside to make the arrest and bring him outside.  No known Vermont Police officers were seen forcing the door or entering the residence.   

Corona-Sanchez tried to elude arrest on Wednesday morning and drove his car recklessly head-on into an ICE vehicle in an apartment complex across from South Burlington High School shortly after 7:30 a.m., records show.

Corona-Sanchez then pulled back onto Dorset Street in his blue Toyota Camry and was headed the wrong way when he struck another car that was headed in the correct direction, the records show. 

The suspect eventually got over the raised median and into the northbound lanes of the divided highway, an ICE agent reported.

Corona-Sanchez then returned to 337 Dorset Street where ICE had first seen him leaving an apartment earlier in the morning, records show.  He and a companion went inside and federal agents encircled the single-story house to await the search warrant.

Investigators had the apartment under surveillance for much of the day as they secured the search and arrest warrants.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont declined comment due to the active ongoing criminal investigation.

Supporters of the advocacy group Migrant Justice and other protestors, some of them masked, eventually arrived at the scene and were yelling at ICE agents and offering support for the wanted suspect.

It was unclear how long Corona-Sanchez has been back in the country illegally, officials said.

Middlebury Police said Wednesday they arrested Corona-Sanchez on a criminal charge of driving while under the influence on Jan. 15.  Officer Aiden Alnwick was drawn to the driver after he hit a curb on East Main Street, police said. Corona-Sanchez, who gave a Winooski address, was eventually released with a citation ordering him to appear the following month in court, records show

While Vermont police, including Middlebury Police officers, are prohibited from asking suspects about immigration status, ICE was apparently able to later determine Corona-Sanchez should not have been in the United States, records show.

Corona-Sanchez, as an illegal immigrant, had been deported on March 9, 2022 after being found illegally in the country, records show. 

The Mexican native had waded across the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass, Texas on Oct. 27, 2021 and was subsequently arrested for criminal trespass, records show.

The South Burlington Emergency Dispatch Center received a 911 report about 7:38 a.m. about a motor vehicle accident near 345 Dorset Street involving multiple vehicles, police said.

Police Chief William Breault said city officers responded to the area and located an unoccupied car with extensive damage in the northbound travel lane of Dorset Street near Brookwood Drive.

Police found a second damaged vehicle in the southbound lane near 435 Dorset Street, according to Breault.

Two other damaged vehicles were found in the parking lot of the Dorset Commons apartment complex, across from the city’s high school and the Tuttle Middle School, police said.

Breault said a preliminary investigation determined that federal agents with ICE  attempted to apprehend an individual, believed to be associated with the area of 345 Dorset Street, when the suspect fled in a car.

ICE agents tried to box in the vehicle in the parking lot of 435 Dorset Street. The vehicle again fled, resulting in damage to several ICE vehicles. As the wanted car fled, it collided with a vehicle traveling south. The operator and sole occupant of that vehicle was uninjured, the chief said.

The individual that ICE was seeking to detain abandoned his vehicle in the northbound lane of Dorset Street and fled on foot.

South Burlington Police was never made aware of the immigration enforcement activity due to a state of Vermont policy that mandates no cooperation with ICE, officials said.

Breault said police only became aware as a result of the car crash on Dorset Street, which is a four-lane divided highway.

Police later learned from ICE officials the federal agents had responded to the area of 345 Dorset Street seeking to locate and detain a man related on a federal administrative warrant related to the individual’s immigration status.

The individual fled, later resulting in the various vehicle collisions, the chief said.

Federal agents believe the wanted individual returned to an apartment at 337 Dorset Street, and agents surrounded the single-story white house while awaiting the approval of a federal criminal search warrant and arrest warrant.  

It was unknown how many people were in the residence, but a child, believed to be about 3 years-old, was let out, Deputy Police Chief Sean Briscoe said at the scene.

Breault said ICE requested assistance from the South Burlington Police due to a ballooning crowd of individuals protesting in the area. 

South Burlington officers responded and remain in the area with the purpose of ensuring the safety of federal law enforcement as well as the unimpeded ability for individuals to protest, the chief said.

Vermont State Police sent a large delegation to also help keep the peace.

By 1 p.m. South Burlington Police said traffic headed south was closed near the University Mall.  Northbound traffic was being re-routed on San Remo Drive, which runs parallel to Dorset Street. 

Breault said police did not assist federal agents with the enforcement of the initial federal immigration violation.