Several residents confirmed the presence of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Grand County on Sept. 14., leading to the arrest of Evin Gonzales, an undocumented Nicaraguan man living in Fraser, according to housemates and employees.

Gerson Aviles of Fraser told Sky-Hi News he did not witness the interaction, but was aware that federal ICE agents entered the McDonald’s located at 78850 U.S. Highway 40 in Winter Park on the morning of Sept. 14. His manager Justin Ramirez, a legal U.S. work permit holder, was detained and ultimately released after questioning from the agents, he said.

Also that morning, Aviles said ICE agents visited a house in a Fraser area neighborhood, where they took Gonzales into custody. Gonzales, who had previously worked at the McDonald’s in Winter Park, did not have a criminal record that Aviles was aware of. He was not employed at McDonald’s at the time of his arrest.

Video footage shared with Sky-Hi News on Sept. 17 captures what appears to be the end of the alleged operation. It showed several vehicles, including three black SUVs, parked outside of a residence in the Meadowridge neighborhood. Two people, one of which is dressed in black with a white hat, enter a car, before five vehicles drive off in unison.

A former housemate of Gonzales, who requested anonymity, confirmed the Sept. 14 arrest and Gonzales’s undocumented status. He said he had not heard from anyone since the arrest and alleged that his friend had been deported. Gonzales was not listed in the ICE database as of Sept. 25.

Winter Park and Fraser Police Chief Glen Trainor was unable to confirm or deny ICE’s presence in the county.

“In accordance with the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act, no such records exist,” he said in a statement. “Meadowridge is not within the Town of Fraser or Winter Park, and we don’t track incidents from outside agencies unless we are involved … I have no independent verifiable information that ICE was in town. ICE did not reach out to anyone in the Fraser Winter Park Police Department (or any other Grand County law enforcement agency that I am aware of), nor have we spoken to anyone who saw them. In other words, I have zero information other than rumors that this even happened.”  

According to Lieutenant Aaron Trainor, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office also had no record of any enforcement operations conducted by ICE from the week of Sept. 14.

“I can confirm that our office has no record of any enforcement operations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he stated. “Due to Colorado state laws, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office is legally unable to work with, collaborate with, or support federal immigration authorities for civil immigration enforcement actions,” Trainor said in an emailed statement. “As such, it is not a standard practice for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to notify local law enforcement of their operations within our jurisdiction. The Grand County Sheriff’s Office does not house inmates on behalf of federal immigration agencies, nor do we assist in federal immigration enforcement.”

Representatives from the ICE local field office have not responded to requests for comment.