L.A. Airport Police Officer Sues, Says INS Agent Roughed Him Up

A Los Angeles International Airport police officer, claiming he was roughed up a year ago by an immigration agent who thought he was an illegal alien, filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking damages from the agent and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Victor Guirguis, 30, claims in the suit, filed in Torrance Superior Court, that he was in uniform at the airport’s Terminal 5 on Jan. 13 of last year when he was accosted and briefly detained by INS Agent Jesus G. Quintanar.

Meanwhile, an official in the county district attorney’s office said prosecutors are still trying to decide whether criminal charges should be filed against Quintanar and his partner, Agent Johnny Mendez.

INS officials declined comment, saying they are investigating the incident.

Guirguis is one of about 180 officers who patrol the airport for the city’s Department of Airports. He said in an interview Thursday that he had taken a break from his evening foot patrol to write police reports when the INS agents confronted him.

Uniform, Badge and Gun

Guirguis said he was wearing his blue uniform, badge and gun when Quintanar asked where he was born.

“I told him, ‘In Egypt,’ ” recalled Guirguis, who is a naturalized American citizen. “He asked me, ‘Where is your green card?’ I didn’t think he was serious. No one in their right mind would ask a police officer in full uniform for his green card.

“I was kidding around. I said, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll show it to you.’ ”

Quintanar then pushed Guirguis against a wall and hit him in the back of the head with his forearm five or six times, Guirguis said. Agent Mendez stood by and screamed that he would shoot if Guirguis drew his gun, Guirguis said.

“I kept saying, ‘I’m a citizen. What do you want from me?’ ” Guirguis said.

Guirguis’ partner, Officer Michelle Louis, radioed for help and four other airport police officers soon arrived and turned the tables on the INS agents, taking them into custody, an airport spokesman said. The INS agents later were released to their supervisors.

The two agents were part of a team that was sweeping the airport after receiving a tip that illegal aliens were working there as security guards and in other jobs, according to the INS.

The airport officer’s suit charges Quintanar with negligence, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil rights violations, and seeks $1 million in damages. Mendez is not named in the suit.

Guirguis said his head was pounded against the wall by the INS agent’s blows. He said he was on disability leave for four months after the incident because of injuries to his neck, back and shoulders. He returned to duty last May.

The case was presented by airport police to the Los Angeles Police Department for possible criminal prosecution. Detective Richard Ricci said Thursday that he recommended last April that the district attorney’s office file felony assault charges against Quintanar and Mendez.

The agents “were overzealous and went about their investigation in an incorrect fashion,” Ricci said. He said the INS agents should have gone to the airport police office to ask about Guirguis, if they doubted that he was a citizen. (The airport force hires citizens and applicants for citizenship.)

Told that no charges had been filed by the district attorney’s office, Ricci said, “I can’t believe they haven’t done anything about this.”

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Freeman, who is investigating, said the case is complex because INS agents are normally immune from criminal prosecution “if they were acting in the course of their duties and if the action they took was reasonable.”

Freeman said he and his supervisors are still evaluating whether the actions of Quintanar and Mendez were reasonable.

The two agents could not be reached for comment and INS District Director Ernest Gustafson declined comment, saying only that the case is under investigation.