There are two starkly different accounts of what happened during an immigration operation on April 7 in the San Joaquin Valley, when ICE agents fired multiple shots at a Salvadoran man and sent him to a hospital.
According to Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal agents fired defensive shots at Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández, 36, after he “turned his vehicle into a weapon in an attempt to run over an officer.”
According to Hernandez's attorney, Patrick Kolasinski, and at least one witness, the officers fired their weapons first, causing a panicked Hernandez to try to walk away.
Now it will be up to a jury to sort things out.
A federal grand jury indicted Hernandez on Thursday on two counts of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon and one count of destruction of government property stemming from the incident in the rural town of Patterson.
Kolasinski said in a statement Friday that he will not comment in detail as the case is ongoing and “it is time for the judicial process to do its thing.”
“We have faith in the justice system and believe that once all the evidence is presented to an impartial jury, Carlos will be exonerated,” Kolasinski said. “To that end, we look forward to having our day in court.”
Four federal immigration agents carried out the April 7 operation to arrest Hernandez because he is in the United States illegally, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They conducted a traffic stop near an on-ramp to the 5 Freeway in suburban Stanislaus County and told Hernandez to exit the vehicle, but he refused to comply, prosecutors allege.
He is accused of driving forward and striking an officer with his vehicle before quickly reversing and crashing into a police vehicle parked behind him. He then allegedly drove directly toward two federal agents, jumped the center median and drove against traffic, prosecutors said.
“During this incident, and in response to the vehicle's movements, the officers discharged their firearms at the vehicle and struck Mendoza Hernández several times,” prosecutors allege in the indictment.
He was taken to a hospital and treated there for six days before the doctor discharged him.
KCRA 3, A Sacramento-area television station obtained video of the encounter that showed federal agents surrounding a black hatchback that was sandwiched between two unmarked vehicles on Del Puerto Canyon Road.
The video shows the driver reversing with the front passenger door open and hitting a pickup truck. At least three officers have their weapons drawn. The car then moves forward, apparently in an attempt to make a U-turn, and narrowly misses two officers, who open fire.
Kolasinski told the Times last month that his client insists he was shot before moving his car.
“He was very clear on this point, that he backed away because he was trying to escape because he was shot,” Kolasinski said.
After the shooting, officers stripped Hernandez of his clothes and left him handcuffed and sitting naked on the side of the road, according to Kolasinski.
The incident marked the sixth shooting involving federal immigration agents in California since August 2025.
If convicted, Hernandez faces up to 20 years on each assault charge and up to 10 years on the destruction charge.
“However, any sentence would be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable legal factors and federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account a number of variables,” prosecutors said.
Immediately after the incident, Lyons alleged in a statement on X that agents targeted Hernandez because he is a member of the 18th Street Gang wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a murder.
Kolasinski has disputed this allegation, saying that his client was not a gang member and that, while Hernandez had been charged with murder in El Salvador, he was acquitted of any charges related to that case.
The indictment made no reference to any alleged gang affiliation or connections to a murder. Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on federal charges.
