A Los Angeles jury has returned a not guilty verdict in the trial of a tow truck driver charged with theft for towing a government vehicle used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a raid downtown earlier this year.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has charged 33-year-old Los Angeles truck driver Bobby Nunez with “theft of government property,” which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. But on Friday, a jury found him not guilty.
Nunez's lawyers, public defenders Rebecca Harris and David Menninger, said reporters: “We are pleased to confirm that the jury acquitted our client Bobby Nunez. We thank the jury for its service as an important support against prosecutorial abuses in our constitutional system.”
In a statement from the US Attorney's Office said KABC news: “The trial lasted four days. The jury deliberated for more than three hours. We have no further comment.”
In September, Los Angeles District Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X a video of a federal SUV being towed during an ICE raid downtown on Aug. 15, as well as video of Nunez's arrest.
August raid concentrated about Tatiana Martinez, a 23-year-old illegal alien from Colombia who reportedly live-streamed immigration enforcement activities on TikTok. The same video shows her being pulled from the car and arrested.
An immigration agent can be seen chasing a tow truck as it drives off in an SUV and someone shouts obscenities off-camera.
Essayli wrote on X: “Apparently (Nunez) thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations. Now he can laugh behind bars while he faces justice.”
According to September news release From Essayli's office, law enforcement officers used two vehicles with their hazard lights activated to prevent Martinez's vehicle from escaping.
According to the release:
As officers struggled to arrest Martinez, Nunez approached Martinez's car and began pushing on the passenger door of her vehicle on the officer, who then threatened Nunez with arrest. After being told officers were conducting a federal investigation, Nunez swore at the officers and said “something was going to happen to them.”
While officers were speaking to a second man accused of interfering with an arrest, Nunez allegedly drove off in an SUV, according to the report.
Inside the vehicle were keys and a firearm locked in a safe, authorities said.
Co-author Lowell Coffiel is a bestselling Los Angeles crime fiction author. Below the line and nine other crime and non-fiction novels. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
