SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A video showing immigration officers breaking the windows of a car in Spokane Valley has gone viral in the region. Read More Breaking News
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – A video showing immigration officers breaking the windows of a car in Spokane Valley has gone viral in the region.
The incident involved the arrest of two brothers, Jeison Ruiz-Rodriguez and Cesar Ruiz-Rodriguez, on Monday. Kayla Somarriba, the wife of one of the brothers and an American citizen, was in the car with them.
Somarriba said they were on their way to a court hearing related to a harassment charge, which no one has been convicted yet. She expressed concern about the force used during the arrest, stating she feared for her husband’s life, “Yes… I still fear for it.”
The group was stopped close to the corner of Custer and Third, where Somarriba reported that immigration officers surrounded the truck. “And then it was just like 12 of them that surrounded the truck,” she said.
Somarriba said she asked the officers for a warrant, stating, “Completely ignores that we’re asking to see the warrant.” When officers threatened to break the windows, she said they told her, “If you don’t get out we’re going to break the windows,” which they proceeded to do.
The Ruiz-Rodriguez brothers were taken to a Tacoma ICE facility. Somarriba mentioned a previous removal order for her husband in 2019, which was later dismissed. “We didn’t even know he had an order,” she said.
ICE released a statement saying the brothers are suspected members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, which Somarriba refuted: “I told them I am 100% sure that they have nothing to do with any gang.”
The ICE statement added that the brothers resisted officers during the arrest, leading to forced entry by ICE officers. Cesar Ruiz-Rodriguez’s arrest was linked to charges of burglary, malicious mischief, drive-by shooting, and threatening to kill. The spokesperson added that Jeison’s arrest was connected to his felony harassment with a weapon charge
Immigration attorney Hector Quiroga commented on the video, saying, “We see a couple of things in the video that raise a concern for me.” He noted that the arrests appeared coordinated and likely had probable cause. “They very much knew what they were doing it was a targeted stop,” Quiroga added.
Quiroga explained that the type of warrant used might not have required officers to show it during the arrest. Regarding the use of force, he said, “Typically arrests like this with the federal government when there is a suspicion of weapons or a felony they are aggressive.”
Somarriba is left with lingering concerns about her family’s future, particularly regarding her husband’s potential deportation. “Is my baby’s father going to be deported? Is he going to miss the birth of his baby,” she questioned.
The incident has left Somarriba’s family with unanswered questions and a sense of uncertainty. “No I really didn’t think this was going to happen,” she said.
