The Huntington Park Police Division arrested a person this week who they believe was attempting to pose as a federal immigration agent and was in possession of an unlicensed handgun, copies of U.S. Homeland Safety elimination notices and a listing of radio codes for U.S. Customs and Border Safety.
Huntington Park Police Chief Cosme Lozano stated that the arrest occurred at 10 p.m. on June 24 within the 7000 block of S. Alameda Avenue, after cops got here throughout a silver Dodge Durango with tinted home windows that was illegally parked in a handicap zone.
Fernando Diaz, 23, of Los Angeles was taken into custody that evening, he stated. Officers arrested Diaz after they realized he was carrying an unlicensed hid weapon within the car, Lozano stated. Additionally they realized he had an impressive bench warrant associated to a DUI case. Diaz has since been launched on $5,000 bail, metropolis officers stated.
Diaz couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Lozano supplied particulars of the arrest throughout a Friday afternoon information convention at Huntington Park Metropolis Corridor and included a big photograph of Diaz and a desk that displayed the gadgets recovered from inside his car, together with radios, cell telephones and greater than a dozen U.S. Homeland Safety notices from 2022 to “detain, take away or current alien.”
At the very least one doc included a listing of names with asterisks drawn subsequent to them. One other record included a couple of dozen names subsequent to room numbers and the phrases “current.”
Lozano stated when officers got here throughout the Dodge Durango, they seen that the car didn’t have a handicap placard and was lacking a entrance license plate. After they obtained nearer they might see the car was geared up with red-and-blue visor lights, mounted radios resembling police gear and a semi-automatic firearm journal.
The officers initially believed the Durango was an unmarked police car. However after they ran the license plate with a police dispatcher, they realized that it was registered to a resident in Los Angeles, not a legislation enforcement company.
Lozano stated because the officers had been getting ready to impound the car, they had been approached by Diaz who claimed to be the proprietor. Upon studying the car was going to be impounded, he stated, Diaz requested to retrieve the gadgets contained in the car that he claimed belonged to a pal.
“When questioned by the officers concerning the police-like gadgets contained in the car, the person claimed he previously labored as a safety guard,” Cosme stated.
It was round that point officers decided Diaz had an impressive felony arrest warrant for drunk driving and was taken into custody.
Contained in the car, the chief stated, officers recovered three cell telephones, handheld radios, copies of individuals’s passports and paperwork with the headings “Division of Homeland Safety” and “U.S. Customs and Border Safety.”
“A sheet containing [CBP] radio codes, a number of copies of passports not registered to the person’s identify and different miscellaneous gadgets indicative of felony exercise,” Lozano stated. “When additional questioned, the person claimed he beforehand labored for [CBP]. Nevertheless, he may present no legitimate credentials to validate that.”
Lozano stated Diaz informed investigators he labored for CBP in 2022.
Police investigators at the moment are attempting to find out if the suspect was attempting to pose as a federal immigration agent.
“Our concern is the felony aspect of it and that it victimizes members of our neighborhood,” Lozano stated. “The flip aspect of that’s that individuals may additionally come to mistrust the legitimacy of police they encounter, notably undercover or specialised items that don’t function in uniforms and marked automobiles.”
Spokespersons for the Division of Homeland Safety and CBP didn’t reply to a request for remark.
In accordance with the Division of Motor Autos, Diaz’s driver’s license was suspended a number of occasions in 2023 for driving underneath the affect of medication or alcohol.
It was suspended once more on July 28, 2024, after he was concerned in an auto accident and didn’t have insurance coverage, DMV information present. The subsequent day, he grew to become the proprietor of a 2017 Dodge Durango. In accordance with the DMV, his license is suspended.
Lozano stated Diaz was additionally arrested for human trafficking in 2021 however didn’t have extra particulars on the case.
The arrest comes amid rising considerations over the techniques of federal immigration brokers who are sometimes seen and recorded conducting immigration raids with out figuring out clothes or badges, sporting face coverings and armed with pistols. Throughout a current Senate committee listening to, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi claimed she was unaware brokers had been hiding their faces with masks throughout immigration sweeps, however prompt it was for his or her safety.
Final week, two California lawmakers proposed a brand new state legislation to ban members of legislation enforcement from concealing their faces whereas on the job. The invoice would make it a misdemeanor for native, state and federal legislation enforcement officers to cowl their faces with some exceptions, and in addition encourage them to put on a type of identification on their uniform.
This week, state Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) additionally launched Senate Invoice 805 often called the No Vigilantes Act which might require legislation enforcement officers working in California to obviously show identification that options their names or badge numbers. It could additionally authorize legislation enforcement officers to request identification from somebody claiming to be a part of a legislation enforcement company if there may be cheap suspicion of felony exercise, comparable to impersonating a peace officer or a legitimate security concern.
It additionally prohibits bounty hunters from participating in any type of immigration enforcement.
“In a standard world, this laws could be pointless and exceptional. However these are extraordinary occasions and we should shield Californians from concern of police impersonation throughout these unprecedented occasions,” stated Renée Pérez.
Standing behind a wood podium throughout Friday’s information convention at Huntington Park, Mayor Arturo Flores stated this week’s incident prompted the town council to approve a decision that directs its cops to confirm the id of individuals claiming to be federal immigration brokers within the metropolis.
“Let me be clear, Huntington Park is just not trying to hinder authorized federal operations,” he stated. “What we’re saying is straightforward: If you happen to’re performing with federal authority, then present it. Determine yourselves and don’t disguise behind unmarked automobiles, face masks and imprecise credentials.
“Native legislation enforcement has spent many years trying to construct belief between the neighborhood and legislation enforcement,” he added. “These actions by federal companies solely serve to erode that belief.”
Occasions workers author Joseph Serna contributed to this report.
