Off-duty ICE agent charged with felony assault after altercation in Fresno
An off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was indicted on multiple felony counts after a confrontation with a homeowner and the homeowner's daughter in Fresno, California.
Fresno County prosecutors filed felony assault charges on Tuesday against David Gonzalez III, a 32-year-old off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent from McAllen, Texas. The indictment includes assault likely to produce great bodily injury, battery, elder abuse and vandalism, offenses that carry a maximum sentence of four years and eight months if the defendant is convicted on all counts. Gonzalez pleaded not guilty in Superior Court on Wednesday and was released on $37,000 bail.
According to the district attorney’s office, Gonzalez was discovered sleeping on the front lawn of a residence in the Towers District around 3 a.m. on Friday. The homeowner, a 72-year-old man, approached him after the homeowner’s daughter reported the presence. Police said Gonzalez appeared intoxicated and agitated. Prosecutors allege that Gonzalez assaulted the homeowner, causing him to fall and sustain injuries, and then threw the man into a neighbor’s vehicle, denting the car. When the homeowner’s daughter intervened, Gonzalez allegedly assaulted her as well.
The homeowner responded by firing a single shot from a legally owned firearm, striking Gonzalez. The daughter’s boyfriend, an off-duty police officer, subsequently handcuffed Gonzalez until authorities arrived. The district attorney’s office declined to charge the homeowner, stating the shooting was justified by a fear for personal and familial safety.
Gonzalez was hospitalized over the weekend for treatment of the gunshot wound. The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the case.
Local officials noted that the incident has sparked discussion about the conduct of ICE personnel in the region, which has seen an increase in agency activity amid a large immigrant farmworker population. A city council member advised residents to avoid the ongoing Big Fresno Fair, though fair organizers released a video indicating no ICE operations were observed on the premises.