(KTLA) — During an immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles last week, armed and masked federal agents reportedly drove off in a detained U.S. citizen’s vehicle while his 1-year-old daughter was strapped into the backseat as witnesses protested, according to multiple media reports.
The Nov. 4 incident happened outside a Home Depot store in the Cypress Park neighborhood shortly after 32-year-old Dennis Quinonez reportedly exited his vehicle with a hammer and threw rocks at the federal agents, the L.A. Times reported.
In the criminal complaint against Quinonez, federal officials said that as they were preparing to leave the area, they saw him put the hammer in the trunk of his SUV and allegedly spotted him throwing objects that looked like rocks at their vehicle.
The agents then used their vehicles to box the SUV in to prevent him from leaving, at which time Quinonez got out of his car and began yelling that he had his daughter in the back seat.
In the complaint, agents said that a crowd began to gather, prompting them to move Quinonez and his daughter to a different location in an attempt to keep them together, but one of the agents spotted a handgun wrapped in a blue bandana as he was putting the child’s father into the seat of his SUV.
Agents then drove Quinonez and his daughter separately to another location, where a search of the vehicle revealed that the gun, reportedly stolen out of New York State, was loaded with five rounds of ammunition, the complaint alleges.
Federal officials said Quinonez, who reportedly has a 2014 conviction for domestic violence in Los Angeles County and cannot legally have a gun, claimed the firearm belongs to a friend. Authorities also said he admitted to throwing rocks at the agents because he believed they were Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
“He was arrested for assault, and during his arrest, a pistol was found in his car that is reported stolen out of the state of New York,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Times. “The individual has an active warrant for property damage.”
Linda Toczylowski, with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, told the outlet that heavily armed federal agents put the toddler in an extremely dangerous situation.
“It should shock everyone’s conscience that we have masked armed men behaving like that with a U.S. citizen father and a toddler who were just going to run an errand at Home Depot on a random Tuesday,” she said.
The child has since been returned to family members, though the girl’s grandmother, Maria Avalos, who watched the video of the ordeal, said the footage was horrible.
In a statement obtained by MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff, Avalos said, “When I picked up my granddaughter from federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried.”
A little less than an hour later, Gov. Gavin Newsom reposted the MSNBC story, saying only, “This is sick.”
Quinonez has since been charged by federal authorities with the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person previously convicted of domestic violence. It’s unclear if he remains in custody.
Five other undocumented immigrants were also arrested outside the Home Depot, with DHS officials telling the L.A. Times that their criminal records included DUI, driving without a license and a prior deportation from the U.S.
