Southern California family says off-duty agent detained and held their teenage son at gunpoint

An off-duty public officer has been arrested after he allegedly pointed a gun at a teenager in Temecula before detaining him last week. 

It happened on Nov. 10 at around 10:40 p.m., when Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputies were dispatched to the Sommers Bend community after learning of someone who was "brandishing a firearm" in the area, according to a news release from RSO. 

Upon arrival, deputies spoke with the reporting party, who told them that his 17-year-old son was "stopped by a subject in the roadway while driving in a residential neighborhood." He also told deputies that the man displayed a badge before ordering the teenager out of the car at gunpoint. 

The teen was eventually released to his parents after complying, deputies said. Family members say that he was on his way home from a party when the incident happened. 

Investigators with the Southwest Sheriff's Station's Investigation Bureau assumed the case and identified the suspect as 45-year-old Gerardo Rodriguez.

Greg Kirakosian, the attorney representing the family, claims that Rodriguez is an agent with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The teenager and his parents are Mexican-American U.S. citizens, Kirakosian told CBS Los Angeles. 

"My client thought, and his family thought, he was either gonna be shot dead, or he was gonna be taken by ICE that night," Kirakosian said. 

Rodriguez was arrested at his home without incident by RSO investigators, at which point a search warrant was authored and served. Deputies discovered and collected evidence related to the investigation. 

Home surveillance video of the incident was shared by Kirakosian, which shows a man they say is Rodriguez pacing along the street while holding what looks to be a gun. As a pickup truck approaches, Rodriguez can be heard shouting, "Freeze, police! Put the car in park right now!" while pointing the alleged gun at the vehicle. He can then be seen opening the front door and telling the teenager to sit down. 

Kirakosian claims that Rodriguez demanded the teenager's ID, told him he knew where he lived and threatened to investigate his family for more than 10 minutes before he finally let him go when neighbors intervened.  

"I think he and his family are scared, just like everybody else in Southern California, all the way to Chicago, are scared, and this is getting so out of hand," Kirakosian said. "ICE agents are doing this when they're off the clock, at home, in their pajamas, they're using their badge and their gun, and investigating people in the neighborhood."

Rodriguez was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment and assault by a public officer, according to the Sheriff's Department news release. 

CBS Los Angeles has reached out to DHS, ICE and Customs and Border Protection for comment on the incident. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for ICE said that Rodriguez was not an Enforcement and Removals Operations Officer or a Homeland Security Investigations Agent, and therefore not an ICE employee. 

As their investigation continues, RSO investigators ask anyone with further details to contact them at (951) 696-3000.