A federal jury in Los Angeles cleared tow truck driver Bobby Nuñez on Friday. This case, according to federal prosecutors, was about protecting ICE agents during an arrest. His supporters claimed it represented a clash between enforcement and a community that refused to stand back.
Nuñez, 33, was found not guilty of a single count of theft of government property after a four-day trial and more than three hours of deliberations, as reported locally and in a statement from ABC7. The charge could have led to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.
The case began on August 15, 2025, outside a downtown Los Angeles apartment complex. Federal officers arrested Colombian TikTok influencer Tatiana Mafla-Martinez while she was livestreaming. This encounter quickly gained attention online. Prosecutors said agents used two government vehicles with emergency lights activated to block her car at the parking structure’s exit.
According to a Justice Department affidavit, investigators alleged that Nuñez approached the scene during the struggle. He allegedly “began pressing the passenger side door of her vehicle on an officer,” was threatened with arrest, swore at officers, and told them, “Something was going to happen” to them. While agents dealt with another man at the scene, Nuñez reportedly got into his Dodge tow truck and towed one of the government vehicles away.
Federal authorities also highlighted what was inside the SUV when it was towed. The DOJ affidavit stated that the vehicle had its keys inside along with “a firearm locked in a safe inside it.” CBS Los Angeles reported that prosecutors noted agents left “a gun and keys inside the SUV.”
The arrest and the decision to charge Nuñez were heavily publicized at the time by Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who shared video of the incident and wrote that it was “apparently funny” for Nuñez to interfere with immigration enforcement. He added that now Nuñez could “laugh behind bars while he faces justice.”
How it started vs. How it’s going
ARRESTED: Bobby Nunez is now under arrest for brazenly towing an ICE vehicle. He is charged with theft of government property.
Apparently he thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations. Now he can laugh… pic.twitter.com/6LbjCwdcBP
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) September 2, 2025
On Friday, after the acquittal, ABC7 quoted the U.S. Attorney’s office, which said, “The trial lasted four days. The jury deliberated for more than three hours. We have no further comment.” CBS reported that prosecutors argued Nuñez “interfered” during the arrest of Mafla-Martinez and that he was taken into custody about two weeks after the incident.
The verdict comes amid a series of courtroom setbacks related to immigration operations and viral encounters in Los Angeles. Just days earlier, a federal judge dismissed the criminal case against TikTok streamer Carlitos Ricardo Parias, citing violations that hindered his ability to prepare for trial while in immigration detention, which prevented prosecutors from re-filing the charges.
For Nuñez, the case concluded with a jury rejecting the government’s theft theory, despite the dramatic video and the intense focus on the prosecution. For immigration officers and their critics, this episode serves as another reminder that what seems shocking on a livestream doesn’t always lead to a conviction in court.
