There are two very different narratives of what happened during an April 7 immigration raid in the San Joaquin Valley, when ICE agents fired multiple shots at a Salvadoran man, sending him to the hospital.
According to Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal agents fired defensive shots at 36-year-old Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez after he “discharged his vehicle with a weapon in an attempt to run over an officer.”
According to Hernandez’s attorney, Patrick Kolasinski, and at least one eyewitness, the officers fired their guns first, causing the panicked Hernandez to try to flee.
Now, it will be up to the jury to sort things out.
A federal grand jury indicted Hernandez on Thursday on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer and one count of destruction of government property stemming from the incident in the rural town of Paterson.
Kolasinski said in a statement Friday that he would not comment in detail because the case is ongoing and “it is time for the judicial process to take its course.”
“We have confidence in the court system and are confident that once all the evidence is put before an impartial jury, Carlos will be acquitted,” Kolasinski said. “To that end, we look forward to having our day in court.”
According to the US Justice Department, four federal immigration officers conducted an operation on April 7 to arrest Hernandez because he is in the US illegally. Prosecutors allege they made a traffic stop near an on-ramp of the 5 Freeway in a Stanislaus County suburb and instructed Hernandez to exit the vehicle, but he refused to comply.
He is accused of driving his vehicle forward and striking an agent before it rapidly overturned and collided with a law enforcement vehicle parked behind it. He then allegedly drove directly at two federal agents, crossed the median of the roadway and drove on the wrong side against traffic, prosecutors said.
“During this incident, and in response to the vehicle’s movements, the agents discharged their firearms at the vehicle and struck Mendoza Hernandez multiple times,” prosecutors allege in the indictment.
He was taken to a hospital and treated there for six days before he was medically cleared for release.
KCRA 3, A Sacramento-area television station obtained video of the encounter, which showed federal officers surrounding a black hatchback that was parked between two unmarked vehicles on Del Puerto Canyon Road.
The video shows the driver leaving the front passenger door open and hitting the pickup truck. At least three agents have their guns drawn. The car then moves forward, apparently attempting to make a U-turn, and narrowly misses two officers, who open fire.
Kolasinski told The Times last month that his client was adamant that he was shot before his car was taken.
“He was very clear on the issue, that he moved backwards as he was trying to get away as he was shot at,” Kolasinski said.
According to Kolasinski, after the shooting, agents stripped Hernandez of his clothes and left him handcuffed and naked on the side of the road.
The incident is the sixth shooting involving federal immigration agents in California since August 2025.
If convicted as charged, Hernandez faces up to 20 years in prison on each assault count and up to 10 years on the destruction charge.
Prosecutors said, “However, any sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account numerous variables.”
Lyons alleged immediately after the incident statement on x Agents targeted Hernandez because he was a member of the 18th Street Gang who was wanted for questioning in connection with a murder in El Salvador.
Kolasinski has denied the allegation, saying that his client was not a gang member and that while Hernandez was charged with murder in El Salvador, he was acquitted of any charges related to that case.
The indictment did not mention any alleged gang affiliation or connection to the murder. Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges on Monday.
