A Los Angeles jury returned a “not guilty” verdict in the case of a tow truck driver who was charged with theft for towing a government vehicle being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a downtown raid earlier this year.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office had charged Los Angeles truck driver Bobby Nuñez, 33, with “theft of government property,” which carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison. But a jury found him not guilty on Friday.
Nunez’s attorneys, Public Defenders Rebecca Harris and David Menninger, told reporters, “We are pleased to confirm that the jury exonerated our client Bobby Nunez. We thank the jurors for their service as an essential backstop against prosecutorial overreach in our constitutional system.”
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s office told KABC news, “The trial lasted four days. The jury deliberated for more than three hours. We have no further comment.”
In September, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X videos of the federal SUV being towed during an August 15 downtown ICE raid as well as video of Nunez’s arrest.
The August raid focused on Tatiana Martinez, a 23-year-old illegal alien from Colombia who reportedly had been live streaming immigration enforcement activity on TikTok. The same video shows her being pulled from her car and arrested.
An immigration agent can be seen chasing the tow truck as it takes off with the SUV and someone shouts an obscenity 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 a September news release from Essayli’s office, law enforcement officers used two vehicles with their emergency lights on to block Martinez’s vehicle from escaping.
According to the release:
During the officers’ struggle to arrest Martinez, Nunez approached Martinez’s vehicle and began pressing the passenger side door of her vehicle on an officer, who then threatened Nunez with arrest. After being told the officers were conducting a federal investigation, Nunez swore at the officers and told them “Something was going to happen” to them.
While officers addressed a second man accused of intervening with the arrest, Nuñez allegedly took off with the SUV, according to the release.
Inside the vehicle were its keys and a firearm locked in a safe, authorities said.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
