Woodland Police Open Criminal Investigation After Video Challenges DHS Account of ICE Vehicle Collision
Sandego.net – A Northern California police department is investigating after video footage showed a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle used by federal immigration officers during an operation in Woodland, near Sacramento.
The incident occurred Tuesday morning and involved 37-year-old Woodland resident Antonio Moreida. Federal officials initially said Moreida had jumped onto the hood of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle. Woodland police later said the available footage did not support that description.
Police Chief Ryan Kinnan said investigators reviewed recordings from several viewpoints, including a nearby home’s surveillance system, a bystander’s cellphone and Moreida’s own GoPro camera. The department said it is examining the circumstances before the impact as well as the conduct of everyone involved.
“Certain claims made in the DHS statement are inconsistent with the video evidence obtained and reviewed by Woodland Police investigators,” Kinnan said in a Wednesday update.
The chief said investigators had determined from the video that Moreida was hit by the vehicle driven by ICE agents and did not jump onto it. Woodland police are conducting a criminal investigation connected to the collision.
Federal Account Shifted After Questions About Footage
The Department of Homeland Security gave a sharply different account in a statement issued Wednesday morning. A spokesperson said ICE officers had not struck a pedestrian, asserting that a person had climbed onto the hood as the driver braked.
“An agitator jumped onto the hood of an ICE vehicle and the officer driving applied the brakes,” the DHS spokesperson said. “The agitator slid off the hood. ICE immediately contacted EMS and the Woodland Police Department. Flopping for the camera is dangerous, especially when it interferes with a federal law enforcement operation.”
That statement appeared to accuse Moreida of exaggerating or fabricating his injuries. But local authorities said their evidence pointed to a different sequence of events.
By Thursday, federal officials had changed the wording of their response. An ICE spokesperson no longer said that Moreida jumped onto the vehicle. Instead, the spokesperson said he had obstructed an enforcement operation by standing in an active roadway.
“This individual chose to directly impede a law enforcement action and stand in the middle of an active road,” the ICE spokesperson said. “Our officers deliberately attempted to avoid making contact with this anti-ice protestor and drive around him, while also braking. We strongly urge individuals to not stand in the middle of active roadways while a law enforcement vehicle is approaching.”
Videos Capture Events From Different Angles
The collision took place at roughly 9:40 a.m. on a residential street in Woodland, an agricultural community outside Sacramento. Woodland police said their officers were not involved in the ICE operation underway that morning.
Moreida said he went to the area after NorCal Resist, a group that monitors immigration enforcement activity, alerted people to ICE activity in Woodland. He said he was attempting to film agents’ unmarked vehicles.
Moreida said he was standing on the driver’s side of one vehicle when it turned left and drove away, moving him toward the middle of the street. His GoPro footage shows him following a black Dodge Durango with tinted windows as it travels along the road.
Moreida said he then heard a loud engine and saw a black Chevrolet Tahoe heading toward him. The GoPro footage shows the Tahoe approaching, though that recording does not contain audio.
A bystander’s cellphone video captures the Durango passing the Tahoe on the residential street. Whistles can be heard in the background, apparently being used to alert nearby residents to the immigration enforcement presence.
The Tahoe, also described as having tinted windows, moves toward Moreida and positions itself between the two vehicles with its brake lights illuminated. Moreida is not immediately visible in that cellphone recording. A wider home-surveillance angle shows the SUV beginning to turn left only a short distance from him.
Why the Investigation Matters
The disagreement between federal officials and local investigators has placed unusual importance on the recordings gathered from the scene. Rather than relying on a single account, police said they are collecting witness statements and reviewing all available audio and video material.
The case also highlights the role that personal cameras, home surveillance systems and cellphone recordings can play after law-enforcement encounters. Each recording can show only part of an event, but footage from separate positions may help investigators establish timing, vehicle movement and the location of people involved.
Woodland police first said the video was troubling after the Tuesday incident. Their later update made clear that the department’s preliminary assessment conflicted with the initial DHS characterization.
The investigation remains focused on the lead-up to the collision and the actions of those involved. No conclusion about potential criminal responsibility was announced in the police department’s public statements.
The episode comes amid an intensified immigration enforcement campaign under the Trump administration, during which accounts from federal agencies have at times faced scrutiny from local officials and video evidence. In Woodland, the central question is now being examined by local investigators: how and why Moreida came into contact with the ICE vehicle.
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