{"id":132824,"date":"2026-01-26T23:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132824\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:56:08","slug":"jacksonville-woman-accused-of-punching-trooper-granted-release-from-federal-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132824\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville woman accused of punching trooper granted release from federal custody"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Cruz is accused of punching a state trooper after stopping to film ICE agents. Things escalated when troopers determined her driver’s license was suspended.<\/p>\n

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville woman accused of punching a Florida state trooper<\/a> has been released from federal custody. A federal judge granted her release during a hearing Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Cruz was arrested on Jan. 13, 2026, after she stopped to film an immigration enforcement operation happening on Beach Blvd. The situation escalated after state troopers determined she was driving on a suspended license. Court documents state Cruz became combative and refused to comply with commands when law enforcement asked for her car keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dash camera video played during Monday’s hearing showed Cruz attempting to kick law enforcement officers on scene. Court documents also state she punched a trooper in the face.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

After being restrained by ICE agents, Cruz was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol and charged with multiple counts of resisting law enforcement with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer. She was able to post bond and was released from Duval County Jail. A couple days later, she was arrested on a federal charge of resisting an officer.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney on the federal case argued Cruz should remain detained because they believe she is a flight risk with ties to Mexico. They also believe she is a danger to the community, given the violent nature of the charges she faces.<\/p>\n

Cruz’s attorney, Alan Ceballos, argued this was an emotionally charged moment heightened by the fact that Cruz was not taking her anxiety medication properly. He added that Cruz called her daughter on the way to jail and told her she messed up and wanted to apologize to the trooper she hurt.<\/p>\n

“On the way to jail, she called her daughter and said I was wrong, I wish I had an opportunity to apologize to law enforcement. And that speaks volumes about what the true measure of this woman’s character is and I think the judge was appropriately influenced in her direction because of that,” Ceballos said.<\/p>\n

The judge ultimately granted Cruz’s release. She was required to give up her passport and is not allowed to travel outside of the Middle District of Florida. She will also have to undergo regular drug testing and psychological evaluation. If Cruz fails to appear in court, she will be required to pay a $50,000 bond.<\/p>\n

Cruz still faces 14 charges in Duval County Circuit Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Cruz is accused of punching a state trooper after stopping to film ICE agents. Things escalated when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-132824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}