An ICE officer is facing a slew of felony charges after allegedly assaulting a 72-year-old homeowner and the man’s daughter after they found him sleeping on their front lawn.
The Fresno County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday that David Gonzalez III was being charged with assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, elder abuse, vandalism and battery.
If convicted, Gonzalez faces up to four years and eight months in custody, according to the D.A.’s office.
Gonzalez, 32, is from McAllen, Texas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not commented so far on why he was in Fresno. But the Central Valley has in recent weeks noticed an uptick in ICE arrests.
The incident took place around 3 a.m. Oct. 9, when the Fresno Police Department received several reports of a gunshot being fired near East Dudley Avenue and North Broadway Street in Fresno’s Tower District, an area billed as a nightlife destination. Officers arrived and found Gonzalez in handcuffs with a gunshot wound to his midsection, the department said in a statement last week.
According to their statement, an unnamed woman arrived home to find Gonzalez — an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — sleeping on her front lawn. The woman contacted her 72-year-old father, who came out of the house to remove Gonzalez.
Gonzalez woke up and appeared “intoxicated and agitated,” according to the statement. He allegedly attacked the homeowner.
“When the homeowner went outside to ask Gonzalez to leave, Gonzalez assaulted him, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain visible injuries,” the district attorney’s office said in a news release. Gonzalez allegedly threw the victim into a neighbor’s parked vehicle, according to the D.A., “causing significant damage to the side of the car.”
The woman tried to intervene as her father was being assaulted, and Gonzalez also allegedly attacked her, authorities said. Her father, fearing for the safety of himself and his daughter, took out a gun and fired one shot at Gonzalez, according to police.
The woman’s boyfriend, an off-duty police officer, was also there at the time and placed Gonzalez in handcuffs, police said
Gonzalez was off-duty and alone at the time of the incident, according to police.
The district attorney’s office said Gonzalez remained in the hospital, where he is in custody receiving medical treatment. The bail amount for the charges filed is $52,000. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday morning at Fresno County Superior Court.
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