Crime & Safety

BP Agent Acquitted of Choking Charge

Agent Luis Fonseca was accused of choking and kneeing a man for failing to comply with orders while in custody at the Border Patrol's Imperial Beach station.

A Border Patrol agent was acquitted Friday of using excessive force against a man who was kneed and choked during a confrontation in Imperial Beach nearly two years ago.

Luis Fonseca was found not guilty of a federal charge of deprivation of rights under the color of law after less than a day of deliberations.

Fonseca, who joined the agency in 2007, was assigned to the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station at the time of the July 26, 2011, incident.

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Prosecutors claimed a video clip from inside the Border Patrol station showed Fonseca using unreasonable force against Adolfo Ceja Escobar, kneeing him three times and choking him nearly unconscious.

Fonseca's attorney countered that his client relied on his training, using force when suspects don't comply with orders.

Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ceja had been arrested with two other men trying to enter the United States illegally, authorities said.

Fonseca has been on unpaid leave with the Border Patrol since shortly after the encounter.

 

- City News Service


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