The Abridged version:
- Increased reports of immigration enforcement in Yolo County came to a head Tuesday when Woodland resident Antonio Moreida was struck by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle.
- The incident has prompted condemnation from residents and local officials.
- The Woodland Police Department is investigating and has reviewed multiple camera angles captured by onlookers and a doorbell camera.
Woodland’s Main Street was busy Wednesday afternoon, a day after a truck driven by a federal immigration officer struck a resident on a quiet street just a few blocks away.
A steady stream of cars made its way down the main thoroughfare, some loudly playing music with lyrics in Spanish, passing by storefronts like Pinturas Sherwin-Williams, La Fogata Restaurant and Yaquis Cantina.
At Heritage Plaza in front of the opera house, officials gathered to condemn the raids.
“I’m beyond anger, I’m at the point of outrage,” Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard said. “The people who are doing this have no understanding of the Constitution.”
The attention comes weeks after a federal immigration enforcement push started in California, and a day after Antonio Moreida was struck by a Chevy Tahoe with tinted windows while he was recording the vehicle.
Officials confirmed Tuesday that the vehicle was driven by an ICE officer during an enforcement operation.
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“In a way I was glad that it was me and not another member of the community,” Moreida said at the news conference Wednesday. “My love for my community and my need to support them in whatever way possible has never gone away.”
Behind Moreida, who worked for Yolo County for about a decade, stood a number of local officials, including U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, state Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, Woodland City Council candidate Jesse Ortiz, Yolo County Supervisor Angel Barajas, Woodland City Councilmember Mayra Vega and others.
“ICE is trying to terrorize our community and create fear and mistrust,” Aguiar-Curry said.
Woodland police investigate
The Woodland Police Department is investigating the incident, Chief Ryan Kinnan said at the City Council meeting Tuesday.
“I’ve seen many videos at this point and I find what they show very troubling and concerning,” he said.
There are multiple camera angles from observers, Moreida himself and a nearby doorbell camera.
Kinnan said that the videos have allowed investigators to put together a full sequence of events. That, along with statements from nearby witnesses, the ICE officers and Moreida will be submitted to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether to prosecute.
Stallard described what happened in the video after the car struck Moreida.
“It just kept on going,” he said.
While Moreida was in the hospital, the car parked in front of his house, Stallard said.
“This car was across the street staking out his house,” he added.
Federal immigration officials denied that an ICE agent drove into Moreida, The Sacramento Bee reported. An unnamed ICE spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday to The Bee that “an agitator jumped onto the hood of an ICE vehicle and the driver applied the brakes. The agitator slid off the hood.”
