79-year-old suffers broken ribs, brain injury in CA immigration raid, lawyer says
The owner of a Los Angeles car wash suffered broken ribs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury after he was slammed to the ground “without provocation” by federal immigration agents during a raid at his business.
A federal civil rights claim Rafie Ollah Shouhed, 79, filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement says agents “violently assaulted” him the morning of Sept. 9, then detained and denied him medical care for 12 hours.
“This was an outrageous and unlawful assault on a 79-year-old American citizen in his own place of business,” civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone, who represents Shouhed, said in a Sept. 25 news release.
The events were captured on surveillance footage from at Shouhed’s Van Nuys business.
In a statement to McClatchy News on Sept. 25, a DHS spokesperson said, “On September 9, U.S. Border Patrol conducted a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Van Nuys, California, that resulted in the arrest of 5 illegal aliens from Guatemala and Mexico who broke our nation’s immigration laws.”
The spokesperson added that “The owner of Valley Car Wash, (a) U.S. citizen, impeded the operation and was arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.”
In a letter supporting Shouhed’s tort claim, DeSimone wrote that Shouhed was inside his business when agents with Border Patrol and ICE arrived and began to apprehend employees.
Surveillance footage from inside the car wash, reviewed by McClatchy News, shows a masked agent wearing a helmet racing down a hallway as Shouhed approaches him. Shouhed wanted to see what was happening, according to DeSimone.
The agent is then seen shoving Shouhed to the ground and continuing in the direction he was heading. The footage shows Shouhed struggling to get up and then following the agent.
While injured from the encounter, Shouhed went outside to try to answer any questions and then saw one agent grab his employee, the letter supporting the claim says.
“If there is anything I can do for you, let me help you,” Shouhed said to the agent, according to the claim, adding that “I have papers for these guys.”
“You don’t (expletive) with the ICE,” the agent replied, according to DeSimone. “We are here.”
Afterward, footage from outside Shouhed’s business shows an agent grab Shouhed while a second agent rushes over. This agent is seen forcefully taking Shouhed down onto the pavement.
As one agent holds Shouhed down, the other is seen bringing out handcuffs before a third agent joins them in detaining Shouhed.
The agents handcuff Shouhed behind his back and one places a knee on his neck to keep him down, the video shows.
Then Shouhed is hoisted up by his arms by two agents who are seen leading him away from his car wash, according to the footage.
As Shouhed was being detained on the ground, DeSimone said Shouhed tried to tell agents that he had a heart condition and recently underwent heart surgery. He also told them he was struggling to breathe and pleaded for medical attention.
“Federal agents body slammed Mr. Shouhed, pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck, ignored his pleas for medical care, and left him broken and in pain for hours,” DeSimone said in a statement.
Shouhed and five of his employees were ultimately detained at the Metro Detention Center in Downtown Los Angeles, according to DeSimone.
There, Shouhed had his phone and other belongings seized, Desimone wrote in the letter filed with the claim, adding that he was not given a medical evaluation.
After about 12 hours, Shouhed was released without charges and taken to a hospital by his daughter, the letter states.
Following the event, Shouhed had to temporarily shut down his business because his employees were fearful of returning to work, according to the letter.
“Since the incident, Mr. Shouhed continues to experience painful, shallow breathing and shortness of breath, especially with movement and at night,” the letter states.
Shouhed is seeking damages on claims of assault and battery in violation of California’s Bane Act, deliberate indifference to serious medical condition in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and being denied medical attention.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM with the headline "79-year-old suffers broken ribs, brain injury in CA immigration raid, lawyer says."
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