FBI Arrests Port St. Lucie Man Shot by ICE After Hospital Discharge

A man shot multiple times by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during an enforcement stop in central California was taken into FBI custody Monday — hours after being discharged from a hospital where he had undergone three surgeries — without any notification to his family or attorney, his lawyer said.

Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, was arrested by the FBI after his discharge, attorney Patrick Kolasinski said. Federal authorities have not disclosed what charges, if any, Mendoza faces. The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

"We're in shock," Kolasinski said. "He should not be out of that hospital. He was in no condition to be released."

The arrest follows an April 8 enforcement stop in Patterson, a city roughly 75 miles southeast of San Francisco, in which the Department of Homeland Security says ICE agents fired in self-defense after Mendoza attempted to drive into them. Kolasinski disputes that account, saying agents opened fire while the car was stopped and his client fled to escape the gunfire.

Dashcam footage reviewed by public records reporters shows three agents surrounding a stopped vehicle. At least two have weapons drawn when the car moves. The footage has no audio, leaving the sequence of events — and when shots were fired — contested.

The case carries direct implications for Treasure Coast communities, where ICE enforcement operations have increased in frequency under the Trump administration's deportation push. Immigration attorneys in Martin and St. Lucie counties say the circumstances of the Patterson stop — a targeted enforcement action that ended in gunfire, disputed facts and a post-hospitalization arrest — mirror patterns their clients increasingly fear. Federal immigration officials have not answered questions about what legal authority justified the stop.

DHS described Mendoza as a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in a murder case. But a court document dated Oct. 25, 2019, from a Salvadoran judge shows Mendoza was acquitted of murder charges and ordered immediately released. The document, which lists 10 co-defendants convicted of crimes including aggravated robbery and murder and names at least one as a member of the 18th Street Gang, contains no mention of Mendoza belonging to a gang or engaging in gang activity.

Kolasinski said Mendoza, a dual citizen of El Salvador and Mexico who arrived in the U.S. in 2019, has no criminal record in this country and is not subject to an arrest warrant in El Salvador. He works repairing fire damage, has a two-year-old daughter and is engaged to a U.S. citizen. His fiancée visited him in the hospital over the weekend, and he was still in significant pain at that time, Kolasinski said.

The shooting is among several that have occurred during the Trump administration's accelerated immigration enforcement campaign, and questions about the use of force have been raised with federal officials. DHS has not responded to Kolasinski's public statements.

No charges had been publicly filed as of Monday afternoon. Kolasinski said he was working to locate his client and determine where Mendoza is being held.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.