A federal grand jury has indicted two employees at a Ontario surgery center on charges of assaulting and interfering with U.S. immigration officers trying to detain landscapers who ran into the facility to escape the authorities.
Jose de Jesus Ortega, 38, of Highland and Danielle Nadine Davila, 33, of Corona have been charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, a felony, according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California. A trial date has been scheduled for Oct. 6.
Ortega and Davila were charged last month by the U.S. attorney’s office on the same matter. By returning an indictment, the grand jury indicated that it believed federal prosecutors had proved that there is probable cause the defendants violated federal law and that the case can proceed to trial.
According to court documents, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were conducting raids in Ontario on July 8 while wearing government-issued equipment, including law enforcement vests, the release states.
The agents followed a truck with three men inside and approached them after the men exited the truck in the parking lot of the surgery center, according to the release. Two of the men ran away; one of them, an allegedly unauthorized immigrant from Honduras, was detained near the facility’s front entrance and tried to pull away, causing him and the ICE officer to fall to the ground.
A medical staffer helped the landscape worker off the ground and pulled him away from the officers, according to the release. The man went into the surgery center and was chased by the ICE agent, who eventually stopped him.
According to video obtained by KTLA-TV Channel 5, staffers told the two agents to leave because they didn’t have a warrant to enter the property. The agents were trying to detain 30-year-old Denis Guillen-Solis and two other landscapers, according to the release.
In the video, Guillen-Solis is shown holding onto the doorway at the surgical center and asking the agents to present identification. The agents then pulled Guillen-Solis from the doorway and detained him.
Davila allegedly interfered with the arrest by wedging herself in front of the officer and saying, “Let him go!” and, “Get out,” according to the release. Ortega allegedly interfered by grabbing the officer’s arm and vest.
Another ICE officer arrived to help and allegedly saw staff members grabbing one of the officers, according to the release. They detained and handcuffed the alleged unauthorized immigrant.
The charges against the two staffers continue U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli’s aggressive approach to prosecuting people who are arrested during ICE protests and operations.
Essayli’s office has filed felony cases against at least 38 people on claims of misconduct that took place at the sites of immigration raids or during last month’s protests, but many have been dismissed or reduced to misdemeanor charges.
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