Video footage appears to capture the moment a California mayor allegedly mistook a stranger for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent after following him in her car.
Maria Pacheco, mayor of Kerman near Fresno, allegedly pursued hairstylist Eric Bridges for about 25 minutes, blocked his vehicle and photographed him before telling him he looked like an ICE agent.
Bridges described the alleged encounter in a written complaint submitted to the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
‘I am not, nor have I ever been, an employee of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security,’ Bridges wrote. He said he also wants to press charges against Pacheco.
According to Bridges, the mayor circled and followed his car through a park on October 14 before trailing him to his sister’s home in Fresno.
Pacheco dismissed the allegations as ‘ridiculous’ in a statement to the Fresno Bee. ‘If he wants to go to court, then we’ll go to court. That’s all I can say,’ she added.
Our News Outlet has contacted Bridges’s attorney and Pacheco for comment.
Security footage from the home shows Pacheco’s orange Nissan circling the cul-de-sac before pulling up beside Bridges’s vehicle. The pair can be heard speaking, although their conversation is unclear, before Bridges shouts: ‘I look like I’m ICE?!’
Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco has been accused of harassing Fresno hairstylist Eric Bridges by following him and claiming he was an ICE agent
When Bridges asked who she was, Pacheco allegedly replied, ‘Don’t worry about who I am, I’m someone important.’ The mayor is pictured inside her car during the encounter
Surveillance video shows Pacheco following Bridges to his sister’s home, where she allegedly told him: ‘I’m looking for ICE, and you look like ICE’
Seconds later, Bridges can be heard asking, ‘Who the f*** are you?’ before Pacheco drives away. In his complaint, he said he also asked whether she worked for the police or the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Pacheco’s response cannot be heard on the recording. Bridges wrote, however, that she told him: ‘Don’t worry about who I am, I’m someone important.’
The mayor allegedly told the hairstylist he was ‘in [her] hood driving an unmarked car’ and added: ‘I’m looking for ICE, and you look like ICE.’
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Bridges said in his complaint that he ‘was absolutely astounded by the accusation that I resemble an immigration officer.’
He further alleged that, after he denied being an ICE agent, Pacheco raised her middle finger and sped away.
In a video recorded on his phone, the mayor appears to drive away with a smirk as Bridges says: ‘B**** don’t ever in yo f***ing life follow me, you weird a** b****.’
Bridges believes Pacheco may have been seeking political attention by following him and accusing him of being an ICE agent. He pointed to similar confrontations involving immigration officers in Kerman that the mayor has staged and that have attracted attention on social media.
In one such video, Pacheco tells an apparent ICE agent: ‘My name is Maria Pacheco. I’m the mayor for the City of Kerman, and you’re not welcome in my city.’ The Facebook post received 98,000 views.
Bridges, pictured, wrote in his complaint that he ‘was absolutely astounded by the accusation that I resemble an immigration officer’
Bridges said Pacheco likely falsely accused him to score political points. Pacheco is running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors
Bridges said in his complaint that he and his family are ‘deeply fearful for reprisals’ from the mayor, and that his encounter with Pacheco was a ‘malicious attempt to falsely accuse civilians of having ties to ICE for her own political gain.’
Pacheco is running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to represent District 1. The position would be a higher public office than mayor of a small city like Kerman.
Bridges’s attorney, Roger Bonakdar, told FOX26 that Pacheco was livestreaming part of the encounter and told viewers that Bridges was an ICE agent.
Bonakdar said his client has faced threats as a result, including people telling Bridges that they are ‘going to come for him,’ and that he is not welcome at his grandchildren’s soccer game.
The attorney told the outlet that his client is requesting that Pacheco be investigated for potential charges of stalking and false imprisonment.
‘My client’s hoping for full accountability, both through the public integrity unit to send a message that citizens are not a trampoline for political candidates,’ Bonakdar said. ‘You can’t put people in harm’s way because you want social media clout.’
As of Tuesday, there are no criminal charges related to the incident.
