ICE said a man jumped on the hood of their vehicle. Video — and police — say otherwise

By Eduardo Cuevas and Caroll Alvarado, CNN

(CNN) — When footage of a man being hit by federal immigration officers’ SUV in Northern California became public, the Department of Homeland Security responded by saying the man had jumped on the vehicle’s hood.

Local police raised doubts about federal officials’ account as they announced a criminal investigation into Tuesday morning’s incident involving the pedestrian, 37-year-old Antonio Moreida, citing video footage that contradicted DHS’ statement.

Footage from a nearby surveillance camera, a bystander’s cellphone recording and Moreida’s GoPro, which had already been made public at the time of the agency’s statement, told a different story of what happened on a residential street in Woodland, an agricultural city just outside of Sacramento. The incident is the latest in which DHS’ account has been contradicted by officials and video evidence amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Police contradict ICE account

In a statement Wednesday morning, DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers didn’t hit a pedestrian.

“An agitator jumped onto the hood of an ICE vehicle and the officer driving applied the brakes,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement in response to CNN’s request for information. “The agitator slid off the hood. ICE immediately contacted EMS and the Woodland Police Department. Flopping for the camera is dangerous, especially when it interferes with a federal law enforcement operation,” apparently accusing the man of faking his injuries.

After the incident on Tuesday, Woodland Police Chief Ryan Kinnan said in a statement he found footage of the incident troubling. Investigators were working to gather evidence and statements and to review available audio and video related to the incident, including video taken from multiple perspectives, police said in a Facebook post. Woodland Police didn’t take part in the ICE operation the agents were involved in that morning, police said.

The following day, Woodland Police called DHS’ account “inconsistent.”

“Certain claims made in the DHS statement are inconsistent with the video evidence obtained and reviewed by Woodland Police investigators,” Kinnan said in an update Wednesday. The update said investigators had established, based on video evidence, the pedestrian had been hit by the vehicle driven by ICE agents and that he had not jumped onto the vehicle.

The local police department is conducting a criminal investigation into the events leading up to the collision and the actions of those involved, Kinnan said Wednesday.

By Thursday, in response to follow-up questions about the video footage, federal officials no longer said the person jumped on the hood.

“This individual chose to directly impede a law enforcement action and stand in the middle of an active road,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “Our officers deliberately attempted to avoid making contact with this anti-ice protestor and drive around him, while also braking. We strongly urge individuals to not stand in the middle of active roadways while a law enforcement vehicle is approaching.”

What footage shows

Footage reviewed by CNN shows Moreida, a Woodland resident, in the middle of the street at around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday. Moreida said he had responded to a call that morning by NorCal Resist, a group which monitors immigration operations, about ICE activity in Woodland, he told CNN on Tuesday, hours after the incident.

He said he was trying to record agents’ unmarked vehicles. He had been recording one vehicle, standing on the car’s driver’s side, when it turned left and drove off, which he said pushed him into the middle of the street.

Video from Moreida’s GoPro shows him following a black Dodge Durango with tinted windows as it drives down the street.

Then, he said he heard a loud engine before seeing the agents’ black Chevy Tahoe drive toward him, which is shown in his GoPro footage, though the video has no audio.

Down the street, the bystander’s cellphone video shows the Durango pass the Tahoe, which has tinted windows, on a residential street. In the video’s background, people can be heard blowing whistles, presumably to alert people nearby of ICE’s presence in the neighborhood.

The ICE agent driving the Tahoe moves toward Moreida and between the cars with its brake lights on, footage shows. In the bystander’s video, Moreida isn’t yet visible.

The SUV’s wheels begin to turn to the left only a few feet from Moreida, a wider angle of surveillance footage from a home shows.

“The individual was standing in the street long enough that a reasonable person should be able to see them and recognize that they were there,” said Ryan Schwank, a former ICE attorney and training instructor who reviewed the videos provided by CNN.

Schwank also took issue with ICE’s characterization that Moreida was standing in the middle of an active road and impeding law enforcement’s actions.

“When we’re looking at Antonio’s actions, he’s not impeding. He’s not standing blocking the vehicle from moving,” he said. “He’s standing and filming, and that’s well within his bounds to do. He’s well within his rights to do what he was doing.”

Moreida’s GoPro appears to show when he’s struck by the front-right side of the vehicle before he drops his camera.

“Before I knew it, it just drove straight into me,” he said. “I took the hood of the car straight to the chest. It initially took the wind out of me and I couldn’t breathe.”

The surveillance footage shows Moreida take a step back when he appears to make contact with the car. He is then seen falling toward the ground, off the front-right side of the car, the footage shows.

In the bystander’s footage from behind, a screeching noise is heard before the Tahoe jolts forward. The SUV veers left before straightening out, the video shows.

The bystander’s angle shows the Tahoe brake lights turn off. Moreida is then visible in the bystander’s video, falling to the ground and rolling, first on his back with his legs swinging above him. He then appears seated upright in the nearby surveillance footage, this time facing the sidewalk.

The SUV’s brake lights turn back on briefly before it drives farther down the street, the surveillance footage shows.

The driver, an ICE agent, stayed near the scene and called local dispatch, Woodland Police said. The agent cooperated with police during the initial investigation, the local agency said.

Moreida said an off-duty EMT provided him aid at the scene before Woodland Police officers arrived. Federal agents didn’t approach him after he was hit by the SUV, he said.

Moreida said he was eventually transported to the hospital. He said he had X-rays taken of his swollen knees, where he said he had the most damage. In addition, he said he has bruises and cuts from the road.

ICE has reduced the amount of training for officers, including in vehicle operations and how to deal with confrontations, said Schwank, who is now an agency whistleblower after resigning in February.

On Saturday, ICE said it is instituting additional training for officers.

“ICE training will now be extending to 72 days. The change, effective June 2, 2026, will apply to all new academy classes beginning July 1, 2026. All graduates of the previous academy curriculum will attend follow-on training at the Advanced Field Officer Training Program,” an ICE spokesperson said in an emailed statement to CNN. “As we have said all along, ICE training does not end when recruits graduate from the academy. ICE officers go through a rigorous on-the-job training and mentorship. This additional training is tracked online and monitored closely.”

Local officials call for investigations

Soon after it became public, local officials expressed dismay over the incident, which occurred in a rural Northern California community that’s about half Latino. More than a fifth of the population is foreign-born, according to US Census estimates.

“The lack of truth in the Department of Homeland Security’s statement is evidenced by video taken at the scene,” Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard said in a statement issued Wednesday. “All of us can be assured that the Police Department’s investigation into this disturbing incident will continue to be speedy, fair, and impartial.”

US Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes Woodland, said ICE’s statements about the facts surrounding the incident were disappointing but not surprising.

“ICE has a history of trying to hide the facts and mislead the public,” he told CNN. “And this is another example of that happening.”

On the day of the operation, Thompson called on Acting ICE Director David Venturella to investigate the collision, including by preserving evidence and cooperating with local authorities. As of Friday, the congressman had yet to receive a response to his letter, his office told CNN.

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CNN’s Taylor Galgano contributed to this report.