The immigrant who was shot and wounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California last week has been hit with a federal charge of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced the charge in the unsealed criminal complaint ahead of his court appearance on Tuesday. The suspect was arrested by the FBI one day ago, according to his attorney.
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, a 36-year-old man from El Salvador, is accused of hitting an ICE officer with his vehicle during an April 7 traffic stop in Patterson, California.
The stop was initiated because ICE suspected he was an “18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. Mendoza Hernandez’s lawyer, Patrick Kolasinski, denied that his client was a gang member. Kolasinski also insisted Mendoza Hernandez didn’t intend to hurt anybody while attempting to flee the scene.
The suspect failed to comply with the ICE officers’ request to step out of the vehicle and subsequently drove toward one of the officers, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. That officer was struck. The driver then reversed the car and collided with a law enforcement vehicle directly behind him.
Mendoza Hernandez then accelerated forward again toward the officers, one of whom dove out of the way before he could get hit. The officers discharged their firearms in self-defense during the incident.
After getting shot seven times, Mendoza Hernandez was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. He underwent three major surgeries for the gunshot wounds.
The FBI arrested him on Monday after he was medically cleared, the U.S. attorney’s office confirmed. Kolasinski said his client was still in significant pain.
The attorney does not know Mendoza Hernandez’s legal status nor how he entered the United States. The Department of Homeland Security maintains that he is an illegal immigrant wanted for questioning related to a murder in El Salvador.
However, Mendoza Hernandez was ultimately acquitted of the murder charge in October 2019. After his name was cleared in court, he moved to the U.S. that year.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SHOT BY ICE IN CALIFORNIA DENIES GANG TIES: ATTORNEY
The criminal complaint did not reference DHS’s allegations about Mendoza Hernandez’s court case in his native country or alleged gang ties.
The defendant is expected to appear in a Sacramento court on Tuesday. If convicted on the federal charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.