PHOTO PROVIDED Agents from ICE detain several roofers at a business on Broad Street in Montoursville on Monday.

At least five to eight roofers suspected of being illegal immigrants were taken into custody Monday morning after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents removed them from the roof of a bank at 355 Broad St. in Montoursville, according to one witness.

‘They were definitely ICE agents. They were all wearing green vests and masks,” the witness, who asked that his name not be published, said. “They (the agents) wheeled up, got out of three or four unmarked cars and asked the people on the roof to come down. However, they refused so at least two agents went up on the roof, using a ladder to a lower roof and then a second ladder to the main roof,” the witness, a retiree, said.

All the roofers were brought down the ladders very carefully, the witness said. “Once they were on the ground, they were handcuffed immediately,” he said. The witness said at least two of the agents at the front had their guns drawn. During the 10 a.m. raid, which took under an hour to complete, “the bank was locked,” the witness said. “Some agents were on the roof, two were out front and others were out back. The bank was surrounded,” he said.

The witness said he saw one marked state police cruiser on the scene. State police had no comment about the incident. Borough police said they were not involved and were not aware of the raid.

All but one of the suspected illegal immigrants were placed in the back of a van and whisked away fairly quickly, the witness said. One remaining suspect was put in the back of one of the unmarked cars. The witness said all the agents “acted in a very professional manner.”

PHOTO PROVIDED An ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) agent from ICE, works on the roof of a business on Broad Street in Montoursville on Monday.

The raid caught the attention of spectators, many of whom were quick to record the event on their cellphones, the witness said.

“Some of them bad-mouthed the agents. “I heard one person yell ‘Fake cops’ while another said ‘All they want to do is work,'” the witness said.

The Sun-Gazette reached out to ICE, which initially has asked for further information.

This was at least the second time this summer that ICE agents removed a group of roofers, suspected of being undocumented immigrants, from a property. In mid-July, five men were taken into custody in the 800 block of West Southern Avenue in South Williamsport.