Video captured Wednesday morning shows what appears to be an immigration enforcement operation in Boyle Heights, where a man was seen being taken out of a commercial truck and into custody by agents in black vests labeled “Police HSI” (Homeland Security Investigations).
The incident took place at around 6:50 a.m. near Whittier Boulevard and Orme Avenue, according to witnesses at the scene. The Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network (BHIRN), which works to verify immigration sightings in the area, also confirmed the incident.
Video shared with Boyle Heights Beat shows a man inside a “ReadyRefresh” commercial truck, which delivers Primo Brands water products including Saratoga and Sparkletts, stopped on the side of the road when an agent in plainclothes wearing a black vest approaches, opens the truck’s door and shouts, “Get out of the truck right now.”
The agent then shoves the man and puts him into a gray pickup truck. Within minutes, a gray SUV pulls up and a masked man in a green vest emerges to assist in the operation before the video is cut off. The man was taken into custody shortly after, witnesses said.
It’s unclear if the man in the truck was pulled over by the agents before the video, which was shot by a member of the BHIRN, began recording.
The commercial truck he was driving was left behind with his belongings still inside.
Shortly after the incident was reported, a handful of men who identified themselves as fellow delivery drivers with Primo Brands arrived at the scene to pick up the delivery vehicle that was left behind. One of them said the man taken into custody worked for one of the company’s brands, describing him only as a Hispanic delivery driver in his mid-30s.
“He was a good guy, hard worker who comes to work every day,” said the man, who preferred to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
“As a Hispanic male… for people to just be coming and taking people out of the blue… to you and people close to you, it’s damaging. It damages your everything, your mental state… It doesn’t feel like you can even do normal things like going to work,” he added.
Boyle Heights Beat reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Primo Brands, but has not responded at the time of this report.