An Evanston man was injured and detained by federal agents who later said they had mistaken him for a fugitive, according to eyewitness accounts and an Evanston Police Department press release.

The incident occurred Sunday, Sept. 20, on Howard Street just east of Dodge Avenue. As we reported Monday, the man was a U.S. citizen. New eyewitness accounts and police records now detail what happened before and after agents drove away.

Ryan Garton, an Evanston resident, told Evanston Now he was driving down Howard Street Sunday morning when he saw an agent's knee pressed against the man's back on the pavement outside El Pueblito Mexican Grill at 1805 Howard St. Garton said he saw blood on the man's shirt and on the knuckles of one of the agents.

The man repeatedly yelled that he was a citizen, according to Garton. A video shared on social media appears to show the man handing a piece of paper to an agent while on the ground, yelling that he was a U.S. citizen. Agents set the paperwork on the curb and drove off, according to Evanston Now.

Garton said the paperwork appeared to be a hospital printout with pharmacy instructions. The man told Garton and police he had been walking to CVS when agents approached him. He had visited a hospital emergency room the day before, Evanston Now reported.

EPD stops agent on Dodge Avenue

After agents left the scene, Garton drove down Dodge Avenue and saw the same Dodge Durango pulled over by an Evanston police car. One of the agents was speaking with officers, Garton said.

According to the EPD press release, officers dispatched at about 9:49 a.m. found the man on the ground in the 1700 block of Howard Street with several people assisting him. He reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth.

A separate Evanston officer encountered two SUVs near Dodge Avenue and Brummel Street. A man in plain clothes wearing a vest marked "POLICE" with federal law enforcement markings identified himself as a federal agent conducting a fugitive investigation, the press release states. The officer observed blood on the agent's hands.

The agent told police the man had refused to provide identification, was detained for fingerprinting and resisted detention. Agents determined he was not the person they were seeking and that he was a U.S. citizen, according to the press release.

The agent said five federal agents had been operating in the area in separate vehicles. They were searching for a person with addresses in Chicago who had an active arrest warrant, the press release states.

A photo Garton shared with Evanston Now shows the agent wearing a vest marked "POLICE" and "Federal Officer Fugitive Operations." A badge on the vest identifies the agent as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The vest also held a gun, magazines and a body camera.

Witness tends to injured man

After agents drove off, Garton tended to the man as he lay in the street. Garton said the man had an abrasion to his right temple and swelling above his right eye. He said the man appeared to be going into shock.

Paramedics and police arrived about two to three minutes later and took the man by ambulance to a hospital, Garton said. Police Chief Schenita Stewart responded to the hospital, spoke with the resident and provided information about community resources, according to the press release.

The agent told police the federal agents left the area after protesters began to gather because they feared they would be attacked, the press release states.

A second eyewitness, Miguel Olivares, told ABC7 Chicago on Monday, Sept. 21, that he was on break at El Pueblito when the confrontation unfolded. He described agents pinning the man to the ground and said it appeared one agent struck the man in the face.

ABC7 Chicago reported that the Department of Homeland Security did not return a request for comment. The identities of the man and the agents have not been released.

Mayor Daniel Biss said on X on Sunday that EPD responded to a sighting of federal agents at Dodge and Howard, that a U.S. citizen was briefly detained and released, and that the person was treated at St. Francis Hospital for minor injuries.

EPD said it is conducting a video canvass, preserving body-worn-camera and in-car video, and collecting photographs and video from witnesses. No formal investigation timeline has been announced.