Carlos Jimenez, a California father of three who still has bullet fragments lodged near his lung, has sued the Trump administration, San Bernardino County and several federal agents, seeking more than $25 million in damages over an October 2025 shooting by an ICE officer.
Jimenez, who lives in Ontario, east of Los Angeles, filed the complaint on Friday against the United States, San Bernardino County, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer Eusebio Ortiz, two Customs and Border Protection officers, an FBI special agent and 20 unnamed defendants.
The complaint says Jimenez was driving to work on October 30, 2025, when he approached federal agents conducting an immigration operation to warn them they were near a schoolchildren’s bus stop. Ortiz shot him. The Department of Homeland Security has said Jimenez “attempted to run officers over” by reversing toward them without stopping; Jimenez’s lawyers dispute that account.
According to the complaint, FBI agents interfered with Jimenez’s medical care at a hospital, preventing him from speaking with healthcare providers, removing him from his bed and restraining him with a leather waist restraint. The filing says he was still bleeding and vomiting as agents drove him back to the scene for questioning, with bullet fragments still in his body. He was later taken to West Valley Detention Center, where the complaint says he did not receive adequate medical care.
Federal prosecutors charged Jimenez with assaulting an officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon. On May 5, US District Judge Kenly Kiya Kato ordered the government to provide records and communications sought by the defense, including messages on government and personal phones. Ortiz was also required to submit a sworn declaration if he had no responsive messages. Jimenez later entered a diversion agreement and completed its conditions. Kato dismissed the indictment with prejudice on November 2, barring the charge from being refiled. The dismissal did not find that officers used excessive force or acted unlawfully.
The complaint also alleges the FBI falsely said two neighbors witnessed the incident and told an agent Jimenez could have driven forward. His lawyers say both neighbors denied making those statements. The FBI declined to comment; DHS referred questions to the Justice Department. DOJ spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy said Jimenez could have gone to trial but instead sought a diversion agreement.
Jimenez is among at least 32 people shot at by federal immigration agents during President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign, according to the source report. The list includes US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, killed in Minneapolis, and Silverio Villegas González, a Mexican man fatally shot near Chicago.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!