Three men were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday morning after they were caught in a vacant apartment in Freeport, police said.
Chris Fabec, chief of Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department, said police were called about 4:30 a.m. to a Lane Court townhouse in the Laneville neighborhood of Freeport for reports of an active burglary.
When they arrived, officers discovered two men in the attic crawl space, Fabec said.
“We were able to get one down,” Fabec said. “The other refused to come down.”
He said a third man was found in an adjoining apartment, having gotten there through the same crawl space.
The men spoke only minimal English and reportedly told officers they were from Mexico, Fabec said. Police contacted ICE, which determined that all three men were in the country illegally.
“They all had warrants, so they were actually taken into custody by ICE,” Fabec said.
Fabec did not identify the men. An email to ICE asking for their identities and additional details was not immediately answered. As of Monday afternoon, no charges regarding the incident had been filed locally, according to court records.
“I am grateful to Chief Fabec and the officers of SARPD for their high level of courage and professionalism in serving and protecting the residents of Freeport,” Freeport Mayor Matt Crytzer said in an email to TribLive.
No one was injured during the incident, Fabec said, and no property was taken.
