Photo: GoFundMe
“I never thought that they would take him like that, handcuff him, and that they would leave me stranded at the gas station,” Maria del Carmen Venegas, 32, toldNBC Los Angelesin Spanish.
In an interview withThe New York Times, Venegas claimed that the ICE agents asked to see their identification, but her husband did not have his driver’s license on him at the time.
Surveillance video from the gas station shows Arrona-Larataken away in handcuffsand Venegas breaking down in tears.
Multiple outlets reported that ICE’s initial statement on the arrest did not mention the alleged homicide charges.
Emilio Amaya of the Community Services Center of San Bernardino, who is representing Arrona-Lara, told CBS2 that after getting in touch with the Mexican consulate, he hasnot been able to confirm ICE’s claimthat his client is wanted on homicide charges, and that Arrona-Lara’s detention papers indicate he is in custody for being in the U.S. without documentation.
“According to the family, he has no criminal history in Mexico, and we did our own search through Mexican channels and we didn’t find anything under his name,” Amaya told theTimes.
ICE’s statement did not mention Venegas’ medical condition — which Amaya said was not a concern to officers during the arrest.
“Even though the officers knew that she was pregnant, they didn’t really care and they still proceeded to do the arrest,” Amaya told theTimes. “So for us, on top of the unjustified arrest is the fact that they compromised the well-being of the child and the wife.”
By Sunday evening, aGoFundMe pageset up to assist the family had raised $6,796, exceeding the $5,000 goal.
Venegas later gave birth to a boy, whom Arrona-Lara has not yet met because the father of five is being held at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, California, theTimesreported.
source: people.com
