The Ontario man who reversed his car toward federal officers, prompting one to shoot him, was not attempting to assault an officer as authorities claimed, but was maneuvering so he could drive away from the encounter as the officer ordered, an attorney representing him said Wednesday, Nov. 5.
Carlos Jimenez, 25, has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. He is due to enter a plea in U.S. District Court in Riverside on Nov. 25.
“His intention was, ‘I’m going to follow this officer’s instruction. I am going to get out of there,’” said Greg Jackson, a partner in the Simon Law Group, which is preparing a claim against federal authorities on behalf of Jimenez as a required precursor to a lawsuit. “I think they did not follow proper protocol for a person who is not a threat.”
The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment sent by the Southern California News Group on Wednesday.
Jackson said Jimenez still has a bullet in his right shoulder and a broken shoulder blade.
“He’s in a lot of pain,” Jackson said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a criminal complaint that on Oct. 30, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers pulled over a Honda Accord on Vineyard Avenue in Ontario about 6:30 a.m. While officers were speaking with the driver, Jimenez drove up in his Lexus SUV and engaged in “a verbal altercation” with officers.
An officer approached Jimenez “firearm in hand” and ordered Jimenez to leave. The officer then holstered his gun and pulled out pepper spray. It was then that Jimenez drove forward, turned his wheels and “rapidly accelerated” backwards toward the Honda and a second officer. That officer, the complaint said, feared he would be struck.
But it was the first officer who fired, the complaint said. The bullet shattered the right rear passenger window and struck Jimenez in the back of the shoulder.
Jackson said Jimenez was not looking for a confrontation.
“He has seen those videos of people who get in ICE officers’ faces and spit on them,” Jackson said. “That was not his intention to get involved in any way. He’s not one to tell them what to do.”
Jimenez, that morning, was driving to the food bank where he works when he saw the officers talking to the Honda driver just outside the mobile home park where Jimenez lives. The officers’ vehicles and the Honda blocked most of two lanes, Jackson said.
Jimenez opened the passenger-side window and encouraged the officers to finish their work soon — “He wasn’t telling them to stop,” Jackson said — because they were blocking a school bus stop and children would be arriving within minutes. That prompted the officer to point his gun at Jimenez and say, “Get the … out of here,” Jackson said.
“When the agent had the gun drawn, Mr. Jimenez said, ‘Are you really going to shoot an American citizen for telling you about kids coming?’ ” Jackson said, citing a statement Jimenez made in court on Friday.
The officer then holstered his gun and pulled out pepper spray, shaking it as if it preparing to use it, Jackson said.
“Mr. Jimenez said ‘OK, OK, OK, OK’ and “No, no, no, no,’” and prepared to leave, according to Jackson.
But because of the way the vehicles were parked, Jackson said, Jimenez’s path was blocked. So he drove forward, then back at an angle, and then forward again to drive around the vehicles.
“And he hears the gunshot. It took him a split second to realize he’s been shot,” said Jackson, who added that Jimenez was moving away from officers when he was struck.
The complaint does not precisely say which direction Jimenez was driving when he was shot, only that the gunfire happened “at approximately this time.”
Said Jackson: “The criminal complaint uses very wishy-washy language to give them some wiggle room. …The evidence is going to show that DHS and ICE initial statements were not based on the truth.”
For unexplained reasons, the officers then allowed Jimenez to drive away, even though authorities would later accuse him of a felony. He went home, and family members drove him to a hospital, where he was arrested.
The Simon Law Group is also representing Francisco Longoria, who was pulled over by immigration officers in San Bernardino on Aug. 16. Officers smashed Longoria’s windows and fired at the pickup as he drove off. Authorities said in a news release that “the suspect drove his truck at the officers and struck two,” but surveillance video shows the officers off to the side of the pickup as it drove away.
Although officers briefly gave chase, Longoria was not arrested until almost two weeks later. A charge of assault on a federal officer was later dropped.
Jackson drew parallels between that case and Jimenez’s.
“We saw this same, exact pattern with Mr. Francisco, and there was no pursuit,” Jackson said. “That undercuts the argument that this person was dangerous. Otherwise, they would have pursued.”
Also on Wednesday, Rep. Norma Torres, whose 35th Congressional district includes Ontario, said she sent a letter to ICE and the FBI seeking answers to several questions:
• Were ICE officers wearing body cameras, and will footage be released publicly?• Were witness statements and security footage collected, and when will they be shared?• Were local law enforcement agencies notified about the operation, and if not, why?• If ICE agents violated federal or state law or agency policy, what consequences will they face?
“Transparency is not optional. The public deserves the truth, and federal agencies must be held accountable,” Torres said in a statement posted on her website. “Americans in our communities will not be endangered by secretive, reckless federal enforcement.”