Screaming man who tried to run from federal officers in DC in viral video was previously arrested for child sex crimes and entered US illegally 3 times

Federal law enforcement agents and DC police on Wednesday tackled and arrested an illegal migrant from Mexico, who was charged with child sex crimes last year, after he tried to run from officers. 

The dramatic arrest of David Perez-Teofani, captured on video by a reporter, occurred near the National Mall, nine days after President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, DC and deployed thousands of federal officers and National Guard troops to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital. 

Perez-Teofani initially appeared calm as he emerged from his blue SUV, which was surrounded by local and federal cops, during the traffic stop, the viral video taken by NBC4 reporter Aimee Cho shows.  

Seconds later, Perez-Teofani made a break for it but was almost immediately taken to the ground by an officer in a Homeland Security Investigations vest. 

“Please! I’m not a criminal! I work here! I want to be with my family!” the man howled in Spanish as cops piled onto him.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin later revealed the disturbing crimes Perez-Teofani had previously been accused of across the Potomac River. 

“Yes this illegal alien from Mexico was previously arrested in January 2024 in Fairfax County for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13,” McLaughlin wrote on X, responding to Cho’s viral tweet. 

“Glad he is off of Washington DC’s streets,” she added, thanking Trump, DHS Secretary Kriti Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

DHS also said Perez-Teofani had illegally entered the US three times and defied “a final order of removal” after voluntarily returning to Mexico on two previous occasions. 

Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court records viewed by The Post show that Perez-Teofani was arrested and charged in January 2024 with indecent liberties with a child under the age of 15 and aggravated sexual battery. 

The charges were later dropped by prosecutors, but it’s unclear why. 

The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. 

Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steven Descano, a Democrat, has been criticized in the past over his handling of cases involving illegal migrants charged with sex crimes. 

“Prosecutors refuse to prosecute,” an ICE spokesperson told News4 about liberal Fairfax County’s decision to not prosecute Perez-Teofani.