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The mayor of a town in the Fresno area tailed a hairstylist earlier this month, accusing him of secretly acting as an ICE agent in a bizarre “role-playing” scenario, according to a new complaint.
Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco allegedly followed the stylist for almost 30 minutes on Oct. 14, blocking his vehicle and confronting him over her belief that he worked for ICE, a criminal complaint stated.
Surveillance footage submitted by the lawyer for the stylist, Eric Bridges, captured an orange Nissan Altima following a white car through a neighborhood’s cul-de-sac. The two cars appear to pull side-by-side as a tree blocks a complete view of the two vehicles.
A verbal altercation is then heard, with a man saying: “I didn’t know you owned the neighborhood” while also mentioning ICE and commenting that a person had followed him for 45 minutes.
The same man is heard in a different video showing a woman in sunglasses who appears to be Pacheco sitting in the Nissan and driving away. He is heard angrily cursing the woman out as she drives off.
“Don’t ever in your f–king life follow me you weird-a— b—ch,” he says.
The man said Pacheco told him: “I’m looking for ICE and you look like ICE.” The complaint further details that Pacheco wouldn’t tell Bridges who he was, but that she was “someone important.”
Bridges submitted complaints to the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, his attorney said, noting that his client has no connection to ICE. The complaints state Bridges intends to file charges against Pacheco for the accusation.
“As an elected official and a representative for a California legislator, Ms. Pacheco isn’t a peace officer and has no business role-playing as one for social media clout or political favor,” Bridges’ attorney, Roger Bonakdar, told Fox 26. “Mr. Bridges has been seriously harmed as a consequence of Maria Pacheco’s careless politicking, and he will pursue every avenue available for justice.
Pacheco responded to the allegations, telling The Fresno Bee that Bridges’ complaint is “ridiculous.”
“If he wants to go to court, then we’ll go to court,” Pacheco said. “That’s all I can say.”
The scandal comes as Pacheco is running for a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. She was recently buoyed by a recording she made on Oct. 8 of alleged ICE agents as they detained people outside a bakery in Kerman. The video drew thousands of shares during a time when Democratic voters are supporting anti-ICE candidates.
The California Post contacted Pacheco for comment.