Cook County resident sues federal government for $25 million after ICE shooting

Carlos Jimenez has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $25 million in damages from the US government.

The suit claims Jimenez was wrongfully shot, arrested, and subjected to malicious prosecution during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Ontario, California, a city east of Los Angeles. The incident occurred on 30 October 2025, around 7 a.m., while Jimenez was driving to work at a food pantry.

The complaint details that Jimenez approached officers to warn them that children were arriving at a nearby bus stop. An ICE officer, identified as Eusebio Ortiz, pointed a firearm at Jimenez’s face and threatened to shoot if he did not leave, according to audio recorded by the officer’s radio. Jimenez attempted a three-point turn because his vehicle was blocked by officers’ cars. During this maneuver, Ortiz fired multiple shots into the vehicle, striking Jimenez in the back and right shoulder, the lawsuit states.

The legal filing asserts there was no officer in Jimenez’s path when he was shot and no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to stop or fire at him. Following the shooting, FBI agents followed Jimenez to a hospital and interfered with his medical care. The suit alleges agents pulled a nurse away from him and prevented him from speaking to medical staff. They removed him from his bed, locked him in a waist restraint, and transported him back to the scene for an interrogation while a bullet remained lodged in his body.

Department of Homeland Security officials initially described the incident as Jimenez reversing directly at officers without stopping, calling the shots defensive. The Department of Justice subsequently charged Jimenez with assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon. The lawsuit characterizes these criminal charges as fabricated. It notes that the criminal complaint claimed Jimenez rapidly accelerated in reverse toward an officer, yet the officer did not claim to feel in danger in that document.

In May, a judge ordered the government to produce records of agents’ communications after Jimenez’s defense lawyers requested access to text messages. Prosecutors then agreed to a diversion agreement that would drop the charges at the end of October if Jimenez met certain conditions. The lawsuit argues prosecutors sought this arrangement to avoid disclosing communications and to prevent the deposition of an FBI agent who allegedly fabricated witness statements. Two neighbors whom the FBI claimed saw the incident denied making those statements and said they learned of the shooting from news reports.

The criminal charges were formally dismissed last week. Jimenez now seeks damages for lost wages and medical expenses, noting that bullet fragments remain lodged near his lung. A Department of Justice spokesperson in Los Angeles, Ciaran McEvoy, said in an email that Jimenez could have taken the case to trial but requested a diversion agreement instead. The Department of Justice has prosecuted 113 people for alleged crimes against immigration officers since last spring. As of mid-September, 33 of those individuals had their charges dismissed and nine were acquitted by juries.