NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) – A New Bedford couple says they were pulled from their car by federal agents on Monday. The incident was caught on camera.
Cell phone video shows the federal agents surrounding a car in New Bedford, one of them smashing a window at one point.
The immigration attorney for 29-year-old Juan Francisco Mendez says the couple was parked when agents showed up. They reportedly told the agents their lawyer was on the way.
“As I was arriving, they were pulling away and my client yells out the window ‘Ayudame,’ which means ‘help me,’” said Ondine Galvez Sniffin, Immigration Attorney.
Mendez and his wife say the agents claimed they were looking for someone named “Antonio” and then proceeded to arrest Juan.
“They pull over to the side, thinking the vehicles are gonna go right past them, until they realized they stopped right behind them,” said Galvez Sniffin.
The couple’s attorney argues the agents arrested the wrong person, adding that Mendez has no criminal record and was in the process of getting legal status in the United States.
Both his wife and their 9-year-old son already have legal status. Galvez Sniffin is calling the incident a case of mistaken identity, and asking for Mendez’s release.
“They were over the top. There was no need for them to use that level of physical force, it was completely unjustified but it’s been happening. It’s going to continue happening because nobody is stopping them,” said Galvez Sniffin.
Mendez is currently in custody in New Hampshire and has a tentative hearing for the start of next month.
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