GIBBSBORO, New Jersey — A 27-year-old Honduran national has been charged with assaulting federal officers after prosecutors alleged he swung a hammer at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a traffic stop in Gibbsboro, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said. Reinieri De Jesus Licona Amador appeared on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal in Camden federal court, Fox News reported, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the criminal complaint cited by Fox News and Nile1, the incident began on Oct. 4 during a targeted ICE operation in Gibbsboro, when officers ran a license plate check on a truck. The vehicle was registered to Licona Amador, and prosecutors said a check of immigration records indicated he lacked lawful status in the United States. Officers activated their emergency lights and pulled the truck over.

Prosecutors allege that as officers approached, Licona Amador reached into a tool container in the back seat and picked up a hammer, refused orders to stop moving, and pulled away as officers tried to remove him from the truck. He allegedly moved to the passenger side, climbed out and onto the passenger-side door while holding the hammer, and repeatedly swung it at officers, according to the complaint.

Officers then deployed oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, commonly known as pepper spray, and wrestled him to the ground, prosecutors said. He was arrested without injury, according to Fox News reporting of the complaint. No officer injury was reported in the accounts.

"Federal officers put themselves in harm's way to enforce the law and protect the public," U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said in a statement quoted by Fox News. "When an individual responds to a traffic stop by attacking an officer with a hammer, that conduct threatens not only the officer's safety but the rule of law itself." If convicted of assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon, Licona Amador faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said. The charge is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Sources: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey via Fox News; Nile1.