A federal jury has acquitted a South L.A. man who was charged with stealing government property by towing an immigration agent’s vehicle during the arrest of a TikTok influencer in Downtown Los Angeles earlier this year.
Bobby Nunez was arrested Sept. 2 after he was accused of interfering with the detainment of Tatiana Mafla-Martinez while she live-streamed her Aug. 15 arrest. Video of the incident showed an SUV being towed away from the parking garage of the Da Vinci Apartments, where Martinez is being pinned to the ground by agents.
The SUV was one of two vehicles being used to box in Martinez’s car and prevent her from escaping the luxury apartment complex, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. Nunez was 33 at the time of the incident, and Martinez was 23.
After a four-day trial and more than three hours of deliberation, the jury found Nunez not guilty of one count of theft of government property Friday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, which declined to comment on the verdict. He had faced up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
Nunez’s attorneys, Deputy Federal Public Defenders Rebecca Harris and David Menninger, said they were pleased the jury exonerated their client.
“We thank the jurors for their service as an essential backstop against prosecutorial overreach in our constitutional system,” they said in a statement to The Times.
During the trial, the defense attorneys argued that the law enforcement vehicle was blocking the driveway to the complex and their client had moved it around the corner — just one block away. They said that the car was returned within 13 minutes.
In a Sept. 2 statement on X, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Nunez had been arrested for “brazenly towing an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] vehicle.”
“Apparently he thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations,” Essayli said. “Now he can laugh behind bars while he faces justice.”
Martinez was arrested on suspicion of being a Colombian citizen living in Los Angeles illegally. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Martinez had been convicted of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and had entered the country illegally in 2022, but was released.
Martinez’s attorney, Carlos Jurado, could not be immediately reached for comment Friday. He previously told ABC7 that his client believes she was targeted because she was using her platform to document ICE raids and arrests in Los Angeles.
Recordings by witnesses showed officers dragging her out of her car by her legs and arms before handcuffing her on the concrete floor.
Authorities in an affidavit alleged that Nunez pressed the passenger’s side door of Martinez’s car against a law enforcement officer as officers were struggling to arrest her.
Officers then threatened to arrest Nunez and he allegedly swore at them and said “something was going to happen” to them, according to the affidavit.
Then, another man approached the officers in an alleged attempt to interfere in the arrest.
While the officers were distracted, Nunez used his tow truck to tow a government vehicle, with its emergency lights flashing, out of the garage, according to the affidavit. The vehicle had its keys inside and a firearm locked inside a safe.
The not guilty verdict is the latest in a string of trial losses in federal court cases tied to immigration arrests and protests. There have been three recent not guilty verdicts delivered to defendants accused of assaulting federal agents.
A Times investigation in July found that the aggressive pursuit of federal charges against people protesting immigration enforcement in Southern California has led to weak cases being rejected numerous times by grand juries.
Times staff writers Ruben Vives and David Zahniser contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
