Washington — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was seriously injured Monday after being struck in the face with a metal coffee cup during an arrest operation in Houston, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The officer sustained a deep laceration requiring 13 stitches, plus several burns to his face.

Authorities say the suspect, Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, a previously deported Salvadoran national with convictions for sexual assault of a minor, child fondling and multiple DUIs, attacked the officer while agents attempted to take him into custody.

Perez, who had been deported from the United States twice — first in June 2013 and again in February 2020 — allegedly reentered the country illegally at an unknown time and location, according to DHS. He's now

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