Attorney says man shot by ICE in Stanislaus County is not gang member, ICE had ‘bad information’

PATTERSON, Calif. (KGO) — The attorney of a man shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Stanislaus County spoke Wednesday morning, slamming federal agents for the incident and directly contradicting the premise ICE used for the attempted arrest.

The shooting happened on Tuesday near Interstate 5 in Patterson. Dashcam videos show a car abruptly backing up and then speeding forward when officers opened fire.

MORE: Dashcam video shows what led up to ICE shooting after traffic stop in Stanislaus Co.

After the shooting, acting ICE director Todd Lyons issued a statement claiming that “officers were conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Patterson, CA to arrest Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder.”

The man’s immigration attorney, Patrick Kolasinski, says he believes this may be a case of bad information by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE officers acted on, which ultimately left his client shot and in the hospital.

Kolasinski said he has obtained a document from the government of El Salvador that he claims will prove Mendoza Hernandez was once arrested and accused of murder, but was acquitted.

“He could not have been released until the warden verified that there were no other holds on him. So if he was released after being acquitted with no other holds on him, he cannot have a warrant. So that information must be either erroneous or completely made up and only DHS knows what they’re looking at,” Kolasinski said at a press conference.

The attorney said his client’s family in El Salvador says he was never in a gang.

“The arrest may have been connected to it, but he was not in it, which is why we think he was the only person who was acquitted,” he said.

Kolasinski and the man’s fiancée, Cindy, spoke in Modesto, and they say they still have more questions than answers, only finding out about the shooting from a member of the media.

Mendoza Hernandez was transported to a nearby hospital following the shooting. The Sacramento Bee is reporting he is in critical condition, but Kolasinski could not confirm what his condition was.

Cindy and Kolasinski say that law enforcement officials and hospital staff have not allowed them to see Mendoza Hernandez and have not communicated how many times he was shot. A hospital social worker could only share that he’s in stable condition, but would not answer any other questions, they claimed during the press conference.

Kolasinski says that because he has not been allowed to speak with his client, he does not know crucial information about his immigration status. He has not filed a habeas petition because he does not know which agency currently has custody over him while he’s at the hospital, he said.

“We don’t know under what color of law he’s being held away from his family. He has, to my knowledge, not been officially arrested. Nothing indicates that he’s in immigration custody right now. Our suspicion is that it’s the FBI that is detaining him,” he said. “We’re operating in a no-information environment.”

FBI Sacramento has taken over as the primary agency for this investigation. Local authorities were at the scene during the investigation, but quickly made it clear they were not involved.

ICE says the man “weaponized his vehicle” by trying to drive away before they opened fire, but Kolasinski says videos of the incident show his client was trying to avoid officers, not run them over as ICE claimed in a statement yesterday

“I think the problem is the training. If you look at that video and watch that video side-by-side with the Renee Good video, it’s the same training and it’s horrible, horrible training. CHP does dangerous stops day and day out and they don’t have this kind of issue,” he said.

Mendoza Hernandez’ fiancée says he is a hard worker in construction, doing rehabilitation of burned buildings, and their 2-year-old daughter couldn’t sleep worried about her father. He was on his way to work when the shooting happened.

“I understand they want to make this country better, but in reality, they are impacting families,” Cindy said. “I saw those cases before on the news. I always wished nothing happened to my family. Unfortunately, right now it’s me.”