Riverside, California – Two employees at a San Bernardino County surgery center are facing federal charges after allegedly interfering with U.S. immigration officers attempting to detain an undocumented man who fled into their facility. The charges, announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice, allege that the staff members assaulted the officers and actively obstructed the arrest.
Jose de Jesus Ortega, 38, of Highland, was taken into custody Thursday morning and appeared in U.S. District Court in Riverside. Danielle Nadine Davila, 33, of Corona, is also charged but remains at large. Both are accused of assaulting a federal officer and conspiring to prevent officers from carrying out their duties.
The incident, which occurred on July 8, unfolded during a routine enforcement operation by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Ontario. The officers, wearing clearly marked gear and operating a government vehicle, had been tracking a truck carrying three adult men. When the truck abruptly turned into the parking lot of the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center, two of the occupants fled on foot…