A man fleeing an immigration raid at a Home Depot in Southern California was struck by a vehicle and killed on a freeway on Thursday as federal agents closed in, authorities said.The victim has been identified as Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdés, 52, of Guatemala, by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.Montoya fled a Home Depot in Monrovia, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched their operation Thursday morning, stated Monrovia city manager Dylan Feik. A local police officer observed the raid after the department received a report of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the area, Feik was quoted as saying by NBC News. During the operation, an individual ran onto the 210 Freeway, he said.Moments later, the fire department and emergency crews were dispatched to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.Montoya was reportedly attempting to cross north across the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210 when he was struck by an SUV travelling around 60 mph in the far-left lane. He was struck by the vehicle’s front right side, sustained severe injuries, and later died at a hospital.The individual who ran onto the freeway was “not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement,” ICE was quoted as saying by CNN. “We do not know their legal status. We were not aware of this incident or notified by California Highway Patrol until hours after operations in the area had concluded.”The company is not “notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations,” Beth Marlowe, a Home Depot spokesperson, was quoted as saying by NBC News.In a statement shared on his Instagram story, State Assemblymember John Harabedian, who represents Monrovia, said 10 people were detained in the raid. “Raids like this do not make our streets safer — they terrorize families, instill fear, and put lives at risk,” he said.“CHP can confirm that the incident occurred within the vicinity of a federal enforcement operation,” stated the California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the incident. “However, CHP cannot confirm the connection between the enforcement operation and the fatality at this time.”Dozens gathered in the parking lot of the Monrovia Home Depot for a solemn march honoring Montoya on Friday.“We’re here to just to lift up his humanity, to say his name … and to say that this cannot happen anymore,” Rev. Francisco Garcia, who co-chairs the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles’ Sacred Resistance ministry, was quoted as saying by CNN.Immigration authorities have focused many of their recent operations on Home Depot stores and other home improvement retailers where day laborers often gather.Enforcement Removal Operations agents carried out a “targeted enforcement operation” last week, at a Home Depot in Washington, DC, as part of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on immigrants and unhoused people in the city.
