Man running from ICE activity at Home Depot is killed on freeway, CA officials say
_fitted.png "The man was taken to a hospital, where he later died, city officials said.")
A man fleeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity at a Home Depot was killed after running onto a freeway, California officials say.
The Monrovia Police Department got a call about possible ICE activity at 9:43 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, Monrovia City Manager Dylan Feik said in a statement.
A responding officer saw ICE agents approaching a Home Depot, where they performed “enforcement activities,” Feik said.
The city does not have information about ICE’s activity, including whether people were arrested or detained at the site, Feik said.
“During the ICE activity,” Feik said a man ran across the street adjacent to the Home Depot and onto the 210 Freeway.
At 9:52 a.m., Monrovia Fire & Rescue got a call about the man being hit by a car.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he later died, Feik said.
“We extend our condolences for the individual and his family,” Feik said.
In an emailed statement to McClatchy News, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the “individual was not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement,” adding that the California Highway Patrol notified them of the incident “hours after operations in the area had concluded.”
A Home Depot spokesperson declined to comment on the matter in an Aug. 15 email to McClatchy News, noting that the business is not “notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations.”
Karen Suarez, of Monrovia, told The Los Angeles Times she rushed to the hardware store upon learning of the incident and spoke with the daughter of the man fatally struck.
“She was visibly very upset, and she was going to go to the hospital and try to find out about her dad,” Suarez told the newspaper. “I feel so bad for her. I feel so bad for the families. These are people trying to escape whatever horrible atrocities they came from for a better life.”
Feik said ICE activity in the city had ended and city officials have “not received any communication or information from ICE.”
“While we understand community members want to know more about the incident, the information provided in this update is all the City has to provide at this time,” Feik said.
An investigation by the California Highway Patrol is ongoing, according to Feik.
Monrovia is about a 20-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
