<\/p>\n
Kerman Mayor Mar\u00eda Pacheco called on federal immigration authorities to release two Central Valley mothers and restart their immigration status cases during an Oct. 17, 2025, press conference outside the downtown Fresno federal courthouse.<\/p>\n
JUAN ESPARZA LOERA<\/p>\n
jesparza@fresnobee.com<\/p>\n
Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco, who recently went viral online after confronting ICE during an operation<\/a> in her city, is facing accusations she followed a man around west Fresno last week before claiming he looked like a federal immigration agent.<\/p>\n Her accuser, a Fresno hairdresser named Eric Bridges, says the incident left him and his family shook. Pacheco says she\u2019s willing to fight Bridges\u2019 accusations in court.<\/p>\n Bridges said Pacheco began following him Wednesday as he drove toward Kearney Park and then to his sister\u2019s nearby home, where the Kerman mayor allegedly told him, \u201cI\u2019m looking for ICE and you look like ICE.\u201d Bridges said in a written complaint<\/a> that he has never been an employee for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n \u201cI was absolutely astounded by the accusation that I resembled an immigration officer,\u201d Bridges wrote in the complaint.<\/p>\n His attorney, Roger Bonakdar, said in a news release that Bridges has filed the complaint against Pacheco with the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office and has also submitted video<\/a> of the incident. The complaint says Bridges wants to pursue charges against Pacheco.<\/p>\n Pacheco told The Fresno Bee on Monday that Bridges\u2019 complaint against her is \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf he wants to go to court, then we\u2019ll go to court,\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacheco is running against Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi for the District 1 seat<\/a> on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in the Nov. 3 midterm election. Both have condemned federal immigration agents\u2019 recent operations in the Fresno area<\/a>, which community groups and attorneys say have used racial profiling tactics and roving patrols targeting sites frequented by immigrant workers.<\/p>\n Pacheco on Oct. 8 recorded a confrontation with apparent ICE agents as they detained four people outside a bakery in Kerman that staff say is frequented in the early mornings by laborers on their way to work. Afterward, thousands of social media users shared video of the incident. Bakery staff told The Bee the ICE operation caused fear in Kerman and drove down customer traffic.<\/p>\n Bonakdar accused Pacheco of politicizing ICE\u2019s presence in the Central Valley and that his client has received threats against him since his own alleged encounter with the Kerman mayor.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Bridges has been seriously harmed as a consequence of Maria Pacheco\u2019s careless politicking and he will pursue every avenue available for justice,\u201d Bonakdar said in a statement.<\/p>\n Complaint: Kerman mayor \u2018encircled\u2019 man\u2019s car<\/p>\n In his complaint, Bridges says Pacheco \u201cencircled\u201d him with her own vehicle as she took pictures of his car in a parking area at Kearney Park.<\/p>\n Eventually, Bridges left the park, and Pacheco followed him as he headed east on Kearney Boulevard to his sister\u2019s home, where the Kerman mayor confronted him, the complaint alleges.<\/p>\n When Pacheco asked Bridges who he was, the hairdresser asked her the same, the complaint says. Pacheco allegedly accused him of driving an unmarked vehicle and told him, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about who I am, I\u2019m someone important,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n Bridges says in the complaint that it was after the confrontation, as he reviewed his own recording of the incident, that he realized he had encountered the Kerman mayor.<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 19, 2026 at 2:08 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
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