Police in WA seek fake ICE vehicle stalking parking lot

Name: Fake ICE truck spotted in Fife
Uploaded: 2025-03-19T19:04:19-07:00
Description: Local and federal investigators are looking for an imposter posing as an immigration agent.

Fake ICE truck spotted in Fife

Local and federal investigators are looking for an imposter posing as an immigration agent.

FIFE, Wash. - Local and federal officers are looking for an impostor allegedly posing as a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration agent. The impersonator was caught on surveillance camera on Sunday driving a vehicle with the word "ICE" on it in the parking lot of a Ukrainian market in Fife.

"With predominant decals that had a similarity to the U.S. Department of Homeland emblem, and large letters ICE which, of course, implies the Immigration and Customs Enforcement," said Assistant Chief Doug Newman of the Fife Police Department.

Emish Market has been in business in Fife for almost four years. Store manager Olena Ray said it was created for Ukrainians escaping the war against Russia to have a safe place to work and shop.

"We are very proud to offer Ukrainian food and traditional food to American market. It does feel like home. We use our language in here. We cook our food, we bring our products from Ukraine to support Ukrainians," said Ray. "So, it’s very important for us to have a cozy and safe environment for them."

Fake ICE vehicle spotted in WA

The backstory:

On Sunday afternoon, surveillance cameras captured a black vehicle with heavily tinted windows circling the market’s parking lot. The vehicle appeared to have DHS emblems, and "ICE" displayed on both sides of the vehicle. To the untrained eye, it could be mistaken for an official federal vehicle.

"It was driving around our parking lot for about five minutes," said Ray. "They were driving back and forth, backing up, and driving back, parking and re-parking, blocking our driveway."

A security guard confronted the vehicle during the encounter and then it drove away.

Newman said Fife Police Department said they are actively working with the FBI Seattle to find the car and driver. Newman said multiple tips were reported of the vehicle spotted in areas throughout the South Sound.

"It’s very obvious what that vehicle did. The emblems that vehicle was displaying was a deliberate provocative action to create disharmony and concern within our community," said Newman.

60 percent of employees and customers at Emish Market are Ukrainian, after escaping the war against Russia. Ray explained they are in Fife protected under the U.S. government’s "Uniting for Ukraine Program."

The store manager said she was not sure why the impostor vehicle targeted them.

"Having people faking being authorities it’s even more threatening. It feels, to me, it’s a hate crime, honestly. To come and threaten people who came from a war zone," said Ray.

What they're saying:

An ICE spokesperson confirmed the vehicle did not belong to DHS.

The spokesperson wrote in a statement, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents are highly trained and dedicated professionals who are sworn to uphold the law, protect the American people and support U.S. national security interests. ICE strongly condemns the impersonation of its officers or agents. This action is not only dangerous, but illegal. Impostors can be charged with various criminal offenses both at the state/local level, as well as federally."

"This situation is alarming on numerous levels because of the political sensitivity of the environment that we’re working in. But also, because when something like this happens, we have partners in the federal, state and local levels of law enforcement, and it makes all of our jobs harder, because then people question is this a legitimate law enforcement action or is this an impostor?" said Newman.

The assistant chief said officers are dedicated to keeping the Emish Market and the Fife community safe. He also reminded people to know their rights.

"Regardless of the agency that they represent, you have a right to request credentials. If it’s a traffic stop, you have a right to call 911 to confirm that it’s an actual law enforcement officer. If it’s a federal officer, and you’re unsure about the legitimacy of the stop or the person in general, you can call 911 and a local police officer will respond to the scene to assist you," said Newman.

As for the Emish Market, Ray said this incident will not stop the store and employees from providing quality Ukrainian goods and services.

"We really want people who intimidate or threaten our customers and employees to be out of our property and to be caught as soon as possible," said Ray. "I don’t want people to be afraid to come to our store because they feel threatened here."

The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Franque Thompson.