In the middle of a Walgreens run on Chicago’s East Side, 19-year-old Warren King found himself face down on the pavement, in handcuffs, and at the center of a chaotic federal immigration operation that never should’ve involved him in the first place.
King, who had just graduated high school, says he was inside the store with friends and family when a squad of plain-clothes ICE and Border Patrol agents swarmed in. Minutes later, he was tackled by one of them, arrested, and told nothing about why he was being detained.
All of it unfolded after a wild pursuit through the neighborhood, a crash at 105th and Avenue N, and a scene outside Walgreens that quickly turned tense, loud, and deeply emotional all captured on video.
A Bad Bust Caught on Camera
In footage that’s now circulating online, family members can be heard screaming for the agents to let King go.
“He’s a citizen! He’s a citizen!” one of King’s relatives yells. But instead of backing off, an agent fires back with a warning: “You don’t know what’s going on, so get the back!”
That video shows federal agents in tactical gear chasing suspects near the Walgreens, before turning their focus to King… someone who, by their own admission later, wasn’t the target.
“And, when he called for backup, other people come in, and that’s when I start to leave,” King recalled.
He says he was trying to walk out of the store when he was taken down without explanation.
“He was just saying, ‘Why are you running?’” King told ABC7. “But I’m telling him, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen. I’m here. I’m legal. I’m born here.’ So, they didn’t try to hear none of that, though.”
King was held for hours alongside two men who, according to the Department of Homeland Security, were undocumented and the original targets of the operation.
🎥“HE’S A CITIZEN!” Cell video shows when Warren King, 19, a South Side native, was arrested by immigration officers outside an Walgreens in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood.
It happened following a nearby crash that ended, Homeland Security says, with two undocumented… pic.twitter.com/15w44yPzlY
— Tre Ward (@TreWardTV) October 15, 2025
“They just accepted, like, their defeat. It wasn’t no talking in the back between both of them, and they knew each other,” King said. “I just graduated high school. So, they can come for, literally, anybody. And that’s not right.”
From Car Chase to Community Chaos
DHS says the chaos kicked off earlier that morning when a red SUV carrying two undocumented individuals rammed into a white Border Patrol truck, sparking a 30-minute chase through the neighborhood. A PIT maneuver ended the pursuit, and the suspects tried to flee on foot.
“Once the vehicle was stopped, the suspects, who are both illegal aliens, attempted to flee on foot. As Border Patrol arrested the subjects and attempted to secure the scene, a crowd began to form,” DHS said in a statement.
But what wasn’t explained is why King —-who had nothing to do with the car chase, the crash, or the suspects — was taken down, cuffed, and sat in a car for hours as agents tried to sort things out.
Legal, But Still Not Safe?
Now King says he’s left with both physical and emotional wounds. The situation, he says, sends a chilling message to people who look like him — that legal status and citizenship don’t always protect you when law enforcement rolls in aggressive and unchecked.
“They can come for, literally, anybody,” he repeated.
As federal officials stay tight-lipped on whether there will be any consequences for detaining an innocent citizen, community members and advocates are calling for answers…and accountability.
Because in a city where trust in law enforcement is already stretched thin, this was more than a mistaken arrest, it was a reminder that, too often, the people caught in the crossfire are the ones who did nothing wrong.