Retired San Jose police sergeant says the dashcam video showed no officer in danger
Scott CastruitaRetired San Jose police sergeant and co-founder of Fugitive Watch
Scott Castruita, a retired San Jose police sergeant and co-founder of Fugitive Watch, told ABC7 that from the dashcam video he saw a man trying to get away and did not see an officer in danger. He said officers must be able to articulate that they feared for their lives and had no other option, and that he could not articulate that from the video.
“I didn't see an officer in danger. But again, you need to be able to articulate the fact that you feared for your life or the life of somebody else, and this was the only means that you had at your disposal to shoot the guy. I wouldn't be able to articulate that from the vehicles.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Were federal immigration officers justified in shooting Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández?
On April 7, 2026, federal immigration officers shot Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández several times during a vehicle stop near Interstate 5 in Patterson, California. An FBI affidavit says the four-person team included three ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and one Customs and Border Protection officer. It alleges Mendoza Hernández moved forward and struck an agent, reversed into a government truck, and then accelerated toward two agents, causing them to fire in response to an immediate threat. His attorney said agents fired while the car was stopped and that Mendoza Hernández fled the gunfire in panic. Public dashcam footage shows parts of the vehicle's movement but has no audio and does not establish when the shots were fired. Mendoza Hernández was later indicted on assault and property-damage charges, which remained unresolved as of September 22, 2026. The dispute is whether the vehicle posed an imminent threat when officers fired.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Bay Area television report on Mendoza Hernández's account, with comment from a retired police sergeant who reviewed the dashcam video.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
ABC7 asked Castruita to review the dashcam video recorded by a passing driver. He said San Jose police rules barred officers from shooting at a fleeing suspect without proper justification, and that based on what he saw, the man was trying to get away.
After the quotation
He added that body cameras would have helped. The station reported his view that the FBI investigation would ultimately determine whether the shooting was right or wrong.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Reference point: whether the officers were justified in firing at Mendoza Hernández. Castruita says the video showed no officer in danger and that he could not articulate a justification for the shots, which criticizes the decision to fire, so we used Condemned. We did not use Mixed or conditional because his wish for body-camera footage, and the station's report that he left the final determination to the FBI, do not change the conclusion he drew from the video. Evidence: a reputable television report quoting him directly.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseDare to Struggle Bay Area calls the Mendoza shooting attempted murder
Dare to Struggle Bay Area
“ICE agents tried to murder Carlos Mendoza on April 7th by shooting him seven times. He has been unjustly charged with assault, put in detention, and moved from place to place without proper medical care.”Read statement
Carlos Mendoza Hernández denies intending to hurt the officers
“My intention was never to hurt them. (Translated from Spanish. Original: Mi intención nunca fue lastimarlos.)”Read statement
Bill Durston says the evidence does not support Lyons’s defense of the shooting
“I believe that the evidence that is publicly available at the time of this writing does not support Lyons’ claims. Instead, as has been the case in multiple other statements issued by Trump administration officials following shootings committed by ICE and Border Patrol officers, I believe that the available evidence strongly suggests that Todd Lyons is lying.”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Retired San Jose police sergeant says the dashcam video showed no officer in danger
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/4785-scott-castruita-a-retired-san-jose-police-sergeant
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Retired San Jose police sergeant says the dashcam video showed no officer in danger". First published: 2026-10-06. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4785-scott-castruita-a-retired-san-jose-police-sergeant