KTLA
Editor’s note: Homeland Security told KTLA the suspect is not an ICE officer, despite the victim’s lawyer’s assertion. KTLA is seeking clarification from the attorney and government officials.
A 45-year-old Riverside County man, who reportedly works as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, is accused of illegally detaining a minor at gunpoint while off duty last week.
The Nov. 10 incident, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, played out at around 10:30 pm outside a home in the 32000 block of Daybrook Terrance in Temecula.
Lawyer Greg Kirakosian, who represents the boy and his family, told KTLA that the 17-year-old was driving home after dropping a friend off down the street when he saw the suspect, identified by investigators as Gerardo Rodriguez, pointing a gun at his vehicle, demanding he pull over.
“In the moment, I think he was just scared for his life. He had a gun pulled on him, and he was told to immediately stop or else,” he explained. “Then that same person came up to his driver’s side door and pulled him out at gunpoint.”
In footage of the incident obtained by KTLA, the 45-year-old is seen pulling a gun from his waistband as he walked up the street, pointing it at the teen’s truck and demanding he stop the vehicle while reportedly brandishing his badge.
“Freeze, police,” Rodriguez shouts. “Put the car in f****** park. Get out of the car. Turn it off, get out. You’re speeding in the f****** neighborhood. Come over here, sit down, get your a** down. You have a driver’s license?”
A man believed to be a federal agent was arrested after pulling his gun on a 17-year-old boy and detaining him on Nov. 10, 2025. ...A man believed to be a federal agent was arrested after pulling his gun on a 17-year-old boy and detaining him on Nov. 10, 2025. (Kirakosian Law)
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A man believed to be a federal agent was arrested after pulling his gun on a 17-year-old boy and detaining him on Nov. 10, 2025. (Kirakosian Law)
The 45-year-old, who is purportedly known to residents on the street as an immigration officer and also reportedly told the boy he worked for ICE, then began interrogating the Mexican American teen, asking him who he was, where he is from and demanding documentation, eventually drawing the attention of others who live on the street.
“By the time our client’s parents showed up, the neighbors had essentially come to the rescue and stopped him from doing what he was doing, calming him down and forcing him to go back inside his house and leaving the boy alone,” Kirakosian said.
The teenager’s parents had been alerted by a friend to what was happening, prompting them to rush over from their home with their son’s passport, fearing the incident could be some type of immigrant enforcement operation. They called 911 after they arrived.
Responding deputies turned the investigation over to RCSD’s Investigation Bureau, who contacted Rodriguez later that same night, arrested him and conducted a search of his house “where evidence related to the investigation was collected,” the department said in a news release.
“I think right now a lot of Mexican Americans, whether they are in a situation like this or not, who are angry upset and scared and this just really came close to home for them,” Kirakosian said when asked how the family was doing after the harrowing ordeal.
The L.A.-based civil rights attorney added that he believes the 45-year-old has become emboldened by what he does and sees other ICE agents doing on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s gotten so bad where he thinks he can now turn his own block into his personal ICE checkpoint,” Kirakosian said. “I don’t know how much worse the situation is going to get, honestly. This kid could’ve been shot.”
Despite Kirakosian’s claim, the Department of Homeland Security denies that Rodriguez was employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The individual referenced in your story is not an Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officer or a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent, and therefore is not an employee of ICE,” the agency said in a statement to KTLA on Monday.
KTLA has reached out to Kirakosian and several government agencies in an effort to determine the source of the allegation.
Rodriguez was booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center for assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment and assault by a public officer. Jail records show he posted bond and was released the same night. Neither juvenile nor his parents have been publicly identified by authorities.
Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing and that anyone with information is asked to contact Investigator Alyssa Morris at the Southwest Sheriff’s Station by calling 951-696-3000."
ICE agent arrested for pulling gun on Southern California teen, lawyer says | KTLA
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