There are two starkly completely different narratives of what occurred throughout an April 7 immigration operation within the San Joaquin Valley, when ICE brokers fired a number of photographs at a Salvadoran man, sending him to a hospital.
In response to Todd Lyons, appearing director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal brokers fired defensive photographs at Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández, 36, after he “weaponized his automobile in an try and run an officer over.”
In response to Hernández’s legal professional, Patrick Kolasinski, and no less than one eyewitness, officers fired their weapons first, prompting a panicked Hernández to attempt to drive away.
Now, will probably be as much as a jury to type issues out.
A federal grand jury indicted Hernández Thursday on two counts of assault on a federal officer with a lethal weapon and one rely of destruction of presidency property stemming from the incident within the rural metropolis of Patterson.
Kolasinski mentioned in a press release Friday that he won’t be commenting intimately because the case is ongoing and “it’s time for the judicial course of to do its factor.”
“We place confidence in the court docket system and consider that, as soon as all of the proof is put earlier than an neutral jury, Carlos will likely be exonerated,” Kolasinski mentioned. “To that finish, we sit up for having our day in court docket.”
4 federal immigration officers carried out the April 7 operation to arrest Hernández as a result of he’s within the U.S. illegally, based on the U.S. Division of Justice. They performed a site visitors cease close to an onramp to the 5 Freeway within the Stanislaus County suburb and instructed Hernández to exit the automobile, however he refused to conform, prosecutors allege.
He’s accused of driving ahead and placing an agent together with his automobile earlier than quickly reversing and slamming right into a regulation enforcement automobile parked behind him. He then allegedly drove instantly at two federal brokers, jumped the middle roadway median and drove the fallacious approach in opposition to site visitors, prosecutors mentioned.
“Throughout this incident, and in response to the automobile’s actions, brokers discharged their firearms on the automobile and hit Mendoza Hernandez a number of occasions,” prosecutors allege within the indictment.
He was taken to a hospital and was handled there for six days earlier than he was medically cleared for launch.
KCRA 3, a Sacramento-area tv station, obtained video of the encounter that confirmed federal officers surrounding a black hatchback that was boxed between two unmarked autos on Del Puerto Canyon Highway.
The video exhibits the motive force reversing with the entrance passenger door open and placing a pickup truck. A minimum of three brokers have their weapons drawn. The automotive then goes ahead, apparently in an try and make a U-turn, and narrowly misses two officers, who open fireplace.
Kolasinski advised The Occasions final month that his consumer is adamant he was fired on earlier than he moved his automotive.
“He was very clear on this level, that he moved backwards as a result of he was attempting to get away as a result of he was shot at,” Kolasinski mentioned.
After the taking pictures, brokers eliminated Hernández’s clothes and left him handcuffed and sitting bare on the aspect of the highway, based on Kolasinski.
The incident marked the sixth taking pictures involving federal immigration brokers in California since August 2025.
If convicted as charged, Hernández faces as much as 20 years on every assault rely and as much as 10 years on the destruction cost.
“Any sentence, nonetheless, can be decided on the discretion of the court docket after consideration of any relevant statutory components and the federal sentencing tips, which bear in mind quite a lot of variables,” prosecutors mentioned.
Instantly after the incident, Lyons alleged in a press release on X that brokers focused Hernández as a result of he’s an 18th Avenue Gang member needed in El Salvador for questioning in reference to a homicide.
Kolasinski has disputed this allegation, saying that his consumer was not a gang member and that, whereas Hernández had been accused of homicide in El Salvador, he was acquitted of any fees pertaining to that case.
The indictment didn’t reference any alleged gang affiliations or connections to a homicide. Hernández is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on the federal fees.
