SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A judge Monday ordered a man who was shot multiple times during an arrest by immigration officers in central California to remain in custody over concerns he could be a flight risk, a lawyer said.
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, who has dual citizenship from El Salvador and Mexico, is charged with assaulting a federal officer for allegedly striking an agent with his car before reversing back into a law enforcement vehicle after he was pulled over on April 7.
Patrick Kolasinski, one of his lawyers, has said Mendoza panicked and tried to flee when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents blocked his car and did not intend to run over anyone. He also disputed claims by officials that his client was a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in relation to a murder.
Salvadoran court documents show he was acquitted of murder in El Salvador and Mendoza has denied ever being in a gang, his lawyer has said.
Mendoza has undergone several surgeries for multiple gunshot wounds.
The Department of Homeland Security has said ICE officers fired defensive shots at Mendoza after he tried to drive into them. DHS said the officers were conducting an enforcement stop targeting Mendoza, 36, in Patterson, a city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
It was among a series of shootings that have occurred during the Trump administration’s aggressive push to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally. It is also among those where questions have been raised to federal officials about the circumstances. In some shootings, video evidence contradicted immigration officials' initial accounts.
Mendoza's next court appearance is scheduled for early May.
Patrick Kolasinski, an immigration attorney representing Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, a man shot during an arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, talks to reporters Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, blamed a bad engine Monday for a failed weekend launch that left a satellite in the wrong orbit, dooming it.
Launches of the huge New Glenn rocket are grounded until Blue Origin and the Federal Aviation Administration complete their investigation.
The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday. The recycled first-stage booster performed well, landing on an ocean barge several minutes into the flight. But the upper stage was unable to put the satellite into a high enough orbit to begin operations.
Preliminary data indicate that one of the upper stage engines failed to produce enough thrust, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said.
The satellite was supposed to join AST SpaceMobile's orbiting network of satellites designed to provide direct space-to-smart phone service.
The rocket’s upper stage and satellite reentered the atmosphere Monday, according to the U.S. Space Force. No additional detail was available.
It was only the third flight for New Glenn, Blue Origin's hulking rocket for delivering spacecraft to orbit. NASA is counting on New Glenn to launch Blue Moon lunar landers for the Artemis moon program. SpaceX's Starship is also in the running to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2028.
Towering more than 320 feet (98 meters), the rocket is named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.
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The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Spectators watch the sunrise from the beach at Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral, Fla., as they wait to watch the launch of the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off from LC36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
