Woodland police challenge DHS's account of the Antonio Moreida collision

Woodland police say officers responded at 9:38 a.m. on October 20 to a reported collision between a federal vehicle and a pedestrian near Clover Street and College Street. The department's first statement that day said ICE personnel were operating the vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe, during an operation in the area, and that the driver notified dispatch and cooperated with investigators. Police said the man, identified in news reports as Antonio Moreida, was evaluated at the scene and taken to a hospital. Moreida, a volunteer with the immigrant advocacy group NorCal Resist, told CBS News Sacramento he went to the neighborhood to document the operation and alert nearby residents.

On the morning of October 21, DHS sent news outlets a statement saying ICE did not hit a pedestrian and that the man jumped onto the hood, the driver braked and the man slid off. Later that day, Woodland police said certain claims in the DHS statement were inconsistent with video its investigators had obtained and reviewed. Based on that video, police said the pedestrian was struck by the vehicle and did not jump onto or slide off the hood, and that the driver applied the brakes before the collision. On October 22, ICE said the man stood in the middle of an active road and that its officers tried to drive around him while braking.

Police told KCRA on October 23 that the agent did not remain at the immediate location of the collision but stayed in the vicinity, reported it to dispatch and cooperated with officers, and that the collision was not being investigated as a hit-and-run. The department says its criminal investigation covers the actions of those involved and the events leading up to the collision, and that the investigation will go to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office for review when it is complete.

CBS News Sacramento reported that footage Moreida recorded shows the front of the vehicle striking him as he recorded in the street, and that home camera footage it reviewed corroborates the police account. Police say investigators also obtained video from several angles, including the interaction between the pedestrian and federal personnel in the minutes before the collision. We could not locate a public release of the footage of the minutes before the collision, and we could not review the complete recordings.