SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP):- A judge Monday ordered a man who was shot multiple times during an arrest by immigration officers in central California to remain in custody over concerns he could be a flight risk, a lawyer said.
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, who has dual citizenship from El Salvador and Mexico, is charged with assaulting a federal officer for allegedly striking an agent with his car before reversing back into a law enforcement vehicle after he was pulled over on April 7.
Patrick Kolasinski, one of his lawyers, has said Mendoza panicked and tried to flee when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents blocked his car and did not intend to run over anyone. He also disputed claims by officials that his client was a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in relation to a murder.
Salvadoran court documents show he was acquitted of murder in El Salvador and Mendoza has denied ever being in a gang, his lawyer has said.
Mendoza has undergone several surgeries for multiple gunshot wounds.
The Department of Homeland Security has said ICE officers fired defensive shots at Mendoza after he tried to drive into them. DHS said the officers were conducting an enforcement stop targeting Mendoza, 36, in Patterson, a city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
It was among a series of shootings that have occurred during the Trump administration’s aggressive push to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally. It is also among those where questions have been raised to federal officials about the circumstances. In some shootings, video evidence contradicted immigration officials’ initial accounts.
Mendoza’s next court appearance is scheduled for early May.