A tow truck driver was arrested after allegedly laughing and filming himself while towing away an ICE vehicle, as agents struggled to detain an anti-ICE TikTok influencer in the country illegally.
Bobby Nunez, 33, was nabbed on Tuesday after he interfered with federal agents in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 15 as they attempted to arrest 23-year-old Tatiana Mafla-Martinez, an undocumented immigrant from Colombia, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The agents had her vehicle pinned with two flashing law-enforcement SUVs at the exit of a luxury high-rise parking garage to prevent the anti-ICE TikTok influencer from escaping in her Tesla when Nunez allegedly stepped in.
As officers were struggling to place Mafla-Martinez under arrest, Nunez approached her car and tried opening the passenger side door.
When officers warned him he was interfering with a federal investigation and faced arrest, the brazen tow truck driver allegedly shot back, threatening that “something was going to happen” to them.
During this time, a second man approached Mafla-Martinez’s Tesla, forcing the officers to switch their attention to him.
While distracted, Nunez allegedly “got into his Dodge tow truck and towed one of the government vehicles that was boxing in Martinez’s vehicle.”
“At the time of this interference, the government vehicle had its keys inside and a firearm locked in a safe inside it as well,” the complaint states.
Nunez was allegedly laughing and filming while towing away the government vehicle and then posted the footage on social media, according to Fox News.
A viral video of the incident posted on X by Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli shows agents cuffing the illegal immigrant even as one officer dashed after the runaway tow truck on foot.
The government vehicle was eventually found about two blocks away.
A Homeland Security Investigation ultimately led to agents tracking Nunez down through videos posted on TikTok.
Cops located Nunez’s tow truck sitting in a marked spot at the same upscale downtown LA apartment complex two days after the incident.
“Apparently he thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations,” Essayli wrote on X. “Now he can laugh behind bars while he faces justice.”
Nunez has been charged with theft of government property.
He faces up to 10 years in federal prison if found guilty.
Law enforcement had been arresting Mafla-Martinez — who crossed the southern border illegally in 2022 and was promptly released into the country — after she was convicted of a DUI, triggering her arrest by the feds.
She was later taken to a federal detention center in Calexico near the Mexican border.
Her lawyer, Carlos Jurado, said his client was targeted for using her massive social media reach of more than 47,000 followers to report ICE operations.
“The reason she didn’t come out is, these are, these are masked men, and they said they had a warrant. She just wanted them to display it, ‘Show me the warrant,’ and they never displayed anything,” said Jurado.
with Post wires
Read the full article here
