A judge acquits an LA man who pulled over an ICE car during the arrest of an activist
A judge acquitted a South LA man charged with theft of government property for pulling over an immigration agent’s car during the arrest of a TikTok promoter in Downtown Los Angeles earlier this year.
Bobby Nunez was arrested on September 2 after allegedly disrupting the arrest of Tatiana Mafla-Martinez while live streaming her arrest on August 15. Video of the incident showed an SUV being pulled into the Da Vinci Apartments parking garage, where Martinez was pinned down by agents.
The SUV was one of two vehicles used to shoot at Martinez’s car and prevent him from fleeing the luxury apartment, according to the affidavit filed in the complaint. Nunez was 33 years old at the time of the incident, while Martinez was 23.
After a four-day trial and more than three hours of deliberation, a jury found Nunez not guilty of one count of theft of government property on Friday, according to the US attorney’s office, which declined to comment on the ruling. He was facing up to ten years in prison, if convicted.
Nunez’s attorneys, Deputy Federal Public Defenders Rebecca Harris and David Menninger, said they were pleased the judge had acquitted their client.
“We thank judges for their work as an important deterrent to prosecutorial abuse in our constitutional system,” they said in a statement sent to The Times.
During the trial, defense attorneys argued that the law enforcement vehicle was blocking the way to the location and their client was driving it around the corner – just one block away. They said the car was returned within 13 minutes.
In a Sept. 2 statement on X, First US Attorney Bill Essayli said Nunez was arrested for “pulling a gun [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] car.”
“He obviously thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations,” Essayli said. “Now he can laugh in prison while he faces justice.”
Martinez was arrested on suspicion of being a Colombian citizen living in Los Angeles illegally. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Martinez was convicted of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and entering the country illegally in 2022, but was released.
Martinez’s attorney, Carlos Jurado, could not be reached for comment Friday. He previously told ABC7 that his client believes he was targeted because he used his platform to write about ICE raids and arrests in Los Angeles.
Witness footage showed police pulling him out of his car by his legs and arms before handcuffing him to the concrete floor.
Authorities in the affidavit allege that Nunez pressed the passenger side door of Martinez’s car against the officer as officers attempted to arrest him.
The police then threatened to arrest Nunez and it is alleged that he insulted them and said “something is going to happen” to them, according to the affidavit.
Then another man came to the police for allegedly trying to interfere with their arrest.
While the police were distracted, Nunez used his truck to pull the government vehicle, its emergency lights on, out of the garage, according to the affidavit. The car had its keys inside and the gun was locked in the safe.
The not guilty verdict is the latest in a series of losses in federal court cases related to immigration detention and protests. There are three recent verdicts handed down to defendants accused of harassing federal agents.
A Times investigation in July found that the state’s aggressive pursuit of criminal cases against immigration enforcement protesters in Southern California has led to weak cases being rejected multiple times by grand juries.
Times staff writers Ruben Vives and David Zahniser contributed to this report.
