A man was taken away in an ambulance Thursday after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Northridge, multiple sources told NBC4 Investigates.
The incident, which happened at 7:30 a.m. on Garden Grove Avenue near Lindley Avenue, was captured on cellphone video shot by neighbors, showing the moment ICE agents took the man into custody.
The footage showed masked agents picking the man up off the ground and carrying him in front of a home on Garden Grove Avenue. It was not immediately clear what led up to the encounter.
“I couldn’t tell who the man was, but the agents were trying to put him into a truck,” a woman who declined to be identified told NBCLA. She said minutes later, an ambulance arrived, and the man who had been taken into custody was loaded inside.
Law enforcement sources told NBC4 Investigates that the incident was part of an ICE operation, adding that agents called for medical transport for the man during the enforcement action. The agents believed the detained man was under the influence or experiencing an overdose, the sources said.
“They were dressed like officers with vests and masks,” another neighbor told NBCLA, explaining that seeing masked officials on the street left residents concerned.
NBCLA reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information and to verify the witness account. NBCLA also inquired about the detained man’s identity and condition. No response had been received as of Thursday afternoon.
