Felony charges dropped against 2 San Bernardino County medical center staffers accused of assaulting a federal officer

Felony charges against two staff members from a San Bernardino County medical center have been dropped, federal prosecutors confirmed.

The charges, which also included interfering with immigration enforcement actions, stemmed from an incident on July 8, when two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained a man inside the Ontario Advanced Surgery Center. The U.S. Attorney's Office claimed the staff members Jose de Jesus Ortega and Danielle Nadine Davila, interfered.

Ortega and Davila were charged with assaulting a federal officer and conspiracy to prevent a federal officer from discharging their duties using force and intimidation.

On Tuesday morning at a news conference, Carlos Juarez, Ortega's attorney, announced that felony charges against the pair were dismissed. He said his clients entered a not guilty plea to one misdemeanor charge, and they intend to fight it all the way.

"The U.S. Attorney was wise enough not to pursue an indictment last week," Juarez said. "Our clients did nothing wrong."

In a statement to CBS News Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed that the felony charges were dropped. The trial for their misdemeanor charges begins Oct. 6, the office said. 

The office declined further comment.

According to prosecutors, two ICE agents were conducting "roving immigration-related operations" in Ontario on July 8, wearing government-issued equipment, driving an unmarked government vehicle, as they were following a truck with three men inside.

The truck allegedly made a "quick" turn into the surgery center's parking lot and, as officers approached the men, two of them ran off. The third man was "partially detained near the surgery center's front entrance before he resisted and pulled away, causing both him and the ICE officer to fall to the ground," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in a news release.

Juarez said his team has reviewed evidence that the government has obtained and has interviewed witnesses. He claimed that the ICE agents entered the clinic without a warrant and did not identify themselves when asked by employees inside.

"What's ironic is the subject that they arrested, the gardener, was not subject to any charges whatsoever," Juarez said. "There were no criminal charges filed against the 'so-called' target."