![\"Immigration](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SAC_4542_261404_JV_Mendoza.JPG\" "\\"Immigration")
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Immigration attorney Patrick Kolasinski announces during a press conference outside the Matsui Federal Courthouse in Sacramento on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, that Carlos Mendoza will be on a 48 hour stay before bail will be allowed. <\/p>\n
JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS<\/p>\n
jvillegas@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
A man who was shot seven times by immigration agents<\/a> during a traffic stop near Modesto and then charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer will remain in custody for at least two days while the government appeals a judge\u2019s order to release him.<\/p>\n Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, 36, who until Monday had been in the intensive care unit at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, was brought into a Sacramento federal courtroom in a wheelchair Tuesday afternoon. His right hand was encased in protective foam after bullets struck him in the arm, face and stomach. He wore a white T-shirt and had black translation headphones hanging from his ears.<\/p>\n He appeared profoundly sad and at times squeezed his eyes shut and wiped them with a cloth held in his uninjured hand. Friends and family, including a Catholic priest, filled the public seats in the small courtroom.<\/p>\n The complaint filed April 9 against Mendoza Hernandez described the events leading up to the April 7 shooting.<\/p>\n It stated that Mendoza Hernandez was initially targeted by immigration agents \u201cbecause he is an illegal alien with no status in the U.S.\u201d However, it did not accuse the native of El Salvador of having criminal ties or engaging in illegal behavior beyond the allegation that he drove his car in a manner that could have harmed ICE agents trying to arrest him.<\/p>\n Four agents followed him from his home to a freeway in Patterson, where they pulled him over. After he refused to exit his Toyota C-HR, one agent smashed the window while two others drew their guns, the complaint said.<\/p>\n Mendoza Hernandez then drove his car forward, striking the ICE agent\u2019s vehicle<\/a>, the complaint said. One agent shot at him at that time. He then pulled forward again, and two other agents fired at him, the complaint said.<\/p>\n During the hearing, Jason Hitt, chief of the violent crime and firearms trafficking unit of the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Sacramento, argued that Mendoza Hernandez should not be released on bail because he attempted to flee the ICE officers. Hitt said this indicated Mendoza Hernandez was a flight risk and should be detained to ensure he appeared in court.<\/p>\n Driving his car close to the bodies of the ICE agents also meant that Mendoza Hernandez would be a danger to the community if released, Hitt said.<\/p>\n But U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Claire was skeptical. The conditions of the traffic stop were very specific to that incident and did not indicate that Mendoza Hernandez was a flight risk or a violent person.<\/p>\n Moreover, she said, he has a stable relationship, a child and connections to the community strong enough that supporters came from Modesto to fill several rows of seats in her courtroom.<\/p>\n About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse at Fifth and I streets, holding picket signs and flags with \u201cresist\u201d and anti-Donald Trump messages. They chanted \u201cFree Carlos now!\u201d and spoke out against what they described as ICE brutality against immigrants.<\/p>\n Leanna Hunt of Sacramento was among those demonstrating in support of Mendoza Hernandez.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want him to know that we support him,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to forget him.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in her eighth-floor courtroom, Claire ordered Mendoza Hernandez released on a $50,000 bond, to be signed by his partner, Cindy Ramirez.<\/p>\n But she agreed to put her order on hold for 48 hours while prosecutors appeal it.<\/p>\n Even if Claire\u2019s order is upheld by a judge, Mendoza Hernandez, who still requires intensive medical treatment, may not be released.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because he may be immediately detained by ICE, which can move to deport him, said Patrick Kolasinsky, one of two attorneys representing Mendoza Hernandez.<\/p>\n If that happens, a second court hearing may be held to determine whether a judge will order the federal government to release him, Kolasinsky said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we got a very fair decision,\u201d Kolasinsky said.<\/p>\n But it may not be enough to release his client.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel worried, because I know there are people who are trying to do something against him,\u201d said Ramirez. \u201cBut I also feel hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Kolasinsky said he did not know where Mendoza Hernandez would be held for the next 48 hours. On Monday, FBI agents brought him to Sacramento, intending to book him into the county jail, the lawyer said. But after waiting three and a half hours, they drove back to Stanislaus County and booked him there.<\/p>\n The Sacramento County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Tuesday that they had never been contacted about incarcerated Mendoza Hernandez.<\/p>\n The Bee\u2019s Rosalio Ahumada contributed to this story.<\/p>\n This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 4:35 PM.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SAC_4481_261404_JV_Mendoza.JPG\" "\\"SAC_4481_261404_JV_Mendoza.JPG\\"")
A protester who identified himself as Faygo leads a small group of protesters outside of the Matsui Federal Courthouse in Sacramento where the hearing for Carlos Mendoza was being held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SAC_4422_261404_JV_Mendoza.JPG\" "\\"SAC_4422_261404_JV_Mendoza.JPG\\"")
A protester puts up her poster in front of a Homeland Security vehicle outside of the Matsui Federal Courthouse where the hearing for Carlos Mendoza was held in Sacramento on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
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