A police officer in Santa Ana, California made a surprising discovery after stopping a man who'd allegedly been pointing a gun at a motorist.
The suspect was an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
A woman was driving behind the unmarked ICE vehicle when an agent inside allegedly pointed his gun at the woman, suspecting that she was following their vehicle around to disrupt their immigration raids, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Since ICE agents refuse to identify themselves and often operate while wearing masks, there has been a growing number of incidents in which residents and local police cannot tell if the individual they're dealing with is a federal agent or an opportunistic criminal.
The FBI recently issued a memo requesting that agents clearly identify themselves when they're asked after a several reported incidents involving masked criminals posing as immigration officers who have robbed and kidnapped victims.
On Sunday, a Fullerton police officer was returning to the Fullerton Police Station after dropping an inmate off at the Orange County Jail. Along the way, the officer spotted an individual exit a car and point a gun at a woman in the vehicle behind him, according to the Fullerton police department.
“The officer immediately stopped to assist, not knowing the identify of the armed male or the circumstances unfolding in front of him,” the statement said.
After the agent identified himself to the police, the Fullerton officer told him that “he could not assist with someone following or recording him if no crime had occurred, and that local law enforcement was en route.”
In a video capturing the incident shot by the driver of the car, a bald man in sunglasses and a green shirt can be seen standing in the roadway with a pistol in his hand, walking toward the driver before the Fullerton police officer intervenes.
The woman asks the man what he's doing and expresses shock at what she perceives to be the police officer working in cooperation with the ICE agent.
The agent insists that the woman is following them, but she says she's "just driving" and that she lives in the area.
“It’s ok to pull your gun on a woman," the driver says in disbelief. "What the f***.”
The Independent has requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security.
