SAN ANTONIO — A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper conducted a traffic stop just before 9 a.m. Wednesday outside the entrance of the Las Palmas Branch Library on the 500 block of Castroville Road in San Antonio, drawing multiple law enforcement agencies, including federal officers, to the parking lot of the West Side polling site. The driver was initially uncooperative regarding his identity, and a DPS trooper took him into custody minutes later without further incident.

DPS identified the arrested man as Rogelio Cortez, 50, and troopers said he had an outstanding vehicle burglary warrant out of Bexar County. Cortez was transported to the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, and DPS said its investigation remains ongoing.

Witnesses participating in early voting saw multiple U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surround the stopped vehicle within minutes. Video showed at least two individuals wearing camouflage-colored gear labeled "Federal Officer" and "Police" talking to a man in a blue pickup truck. Diana Castillo Perez, who was at the polling site, said federal officers took pictures of the license plates of other vehicles in the parking lot. An ICE spokesperson said the traffic stop was DPS's responsibility and did not confirm whether ICE officers responded to the scene.

"They stopped him, and DPS stays in their car for about two minutes," Castillo Perez said. "Once those people show up, they're intimidating."

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar responded to the scene outside the library following the traffic stop. "Y'all need to get out of here because it's intimidating the voters," Salazar said at the scene. "The Bexar County Sheriff's Office and its deputies are in charge of election security," he said. "I want to assure everybody that polling sites are safe and secure."

Salazar said he had received assurances from federal authorities. "I've gotten some assurances that federal authorities are not, in fact, targeting polling sites — as they should not," he said. "My understanding is that this morning's incident was incidental to a traffic stop made by a DPS trooper."

County officials said the individual involved was not a voter and that the incident did not affect access to the polling site or disrupt voting operations in any way. The Las Palmas Branch Library is one of Bexar County's polling locations.