An off-duty regulation enforcement officer was arrested in Riverside County final week after pulling a firearm on a 17-year-old and detaining him on the aspect of the street.
Gerardo Rodriguez, 46, was recognized by neighbors to be an agent employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Patrol, stated Greg Kirakosian, a lawyer representing {the teenager}. The Division of Homeland Safety, which oversees each businesses, didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
{The teenager} had first pushed by Rodriguez’s residence in Temecula to drop some mates off at a close-by home at round 10 p.m. on Nov. 10, Kirakosian stated. The minor then drove again in the identical path to go residence when he was stopped by Rodriguez, who pulled a gun on the minor as he was driving down the street.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Division was dispatched to the 32000 block of Daybrook Terrace, Temecula at round 10:40 p.m., in response to a Saturday press launch.
Rodriguez was taken into custody with out incident on Nov. 11, in response to the sheriff’s division and charged with assault by a public officer, youngster endangerment and assault with a lethal weapon. He posted bail the identical day and his subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for Dec. 26, in response to the sheriff division’s inmate locator.
{The teenager} and his household, who’re all U.S. residents, “have been already scared to start with” earlier than the incident occurred, Kirakosian stated, pointing to Latinos, even residents, getting pulled into immigration enforcement throughout the nation.
“They’re Mexican People, you understand, in Southern California proper now, and there’s ICE raids occurring left and proper,” he stated.
Video footage captured from the next-door neighbor’s home reveals Rodriguez “in the course of the road, type of marching down with a gun in his hand,” Kirakosian stated.
“It’s not like he pulled it out in an emergency. He had it out. He was strolling down the road with a gun in his hand,” he stated.
Rodriguez, carrying shorts and a T-shirt, is initially seen strolling on the roadway in safety digicam footage taken from the next-door neighbor’s home. As he sees the truck strategy, Rodriguez walks towards the center of the road and pulls out a gun earlier than pointing it on the transferring automobile.
“Cease, cease. Decelerate. Freeze. Police,” Rodriguez is heard yelling, his gun pointed on the truck because it approaches. The motive force, fearing he can be shot, slows down and finally stops, Kirakosian stated. Rodriguez orders {the teenager} to park the automobile and as soon as once more identifies himself as police.
Rodriguez then approaches the motive force’s aspect of the automobile and factors his firearm on the driver. He interrogates {the teenager}, asking the place he and his household are from and demanding identification, Kirakosian stated. {The teenager} was detained for practically 20 minutes.
Within the video, Rodriguez is heard arguing with {the teenager}, claiming that he was dashing down the road. He repeatedly claims {the teenager} nearly ran him over on the street.
{The teenager}’s mates, who have been nonetheless at a home close by, noticed the incident and notified the good friend’s dad and mom, who have been additionally on the residence and approached Rodriguez, finally persuading him to let {the teenager} go, in response to Kirakosian. They then referred to as {the teenager}’s mom, who instantly grabbed her son’s passport to show he’s a U.S. citizen. By the point the mom arrived on the scene, Rodriguez had left and so they then referred to as the police.
Police obtained a search warrant and arrested Rodriguez early on Nov. 11. In addition they confiscated Rodriguez’s safety digicam footage and the gun used within the incident, Kirakosian stated.
This incident is the most recent in a rising development of ICE brokers confronting folks and demanding identification. An ICE agent was confronted by native police when he pulled a gun on a lady in Fullerton earlier this month. Varied ICE and Border Patrol shootings have additionally taken place throughout Southern California and Chicago in latest months.
Kirakosian stated this incident seemingly resulted in an arrest as a result of the agent was off obligation.
The Division of Homeland Safety didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
“You bought ICE brokers who apparently really feel so emboldened by what they do on a everyday foundation, they’re basically treating their very own neighborhoods as an space they should begin investigating,” Kirakosian stated.
