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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities in Minnesota are working alongside federal officials to probe an incident involving a Mexican citizen who claims he was beaten by immigration officers. The man, currently in the intensive care unit of a Minneapolis hospital, suffered eight skull fractures.
Last week, teams from the St. Paul Police Department and the FBI conducted an investigation at a shopping center parking lot. It is here that Alberto Castañeda Mondragón alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents forcibly removed him from a vehicle, threw him to the ground, and struck him on the head multiple times with a steel baton.
ICE, however, has attributed Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries to his own actions, claiming he tried to escape while handcuffed and subsequently “fell and hit his head against a concrete wall.”
In an interview with the AP earlier this month, Castañeda Mondragón described the officers as “racist” and stated that they “started beating me right away when they arrested me.” His legal representatives argue that ICE’s actions were racially motivated.
During separate visits to the shopping center last week, both local and federal investigators sought out surveillance footage from at least two businesses. Employees informed the AP that their cameras either missed the January 8 arrest or that the footage had been overwritten, as law enforcement did not request it until more than a month had passed.
Johnny Ratana, who owns Teepwo Market, an Asian grocery store that faces the parking lot where the arrest occurred, said St. Paul police twice sent investigators to the business in recent days. The second time, he said, a data technician sought to recover images automatically overwritten after 30 days.
Ratana said he also was visited by FBI agents interested in the same footage.
The St. Paul Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.
The investigations come amid another federal probe into whether two ICE officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis. Federal prosecutors dropped charges against two Venezuelan men — who had been accused of attacking one of the officers with a snow shovel and broom handle — after video evidence contradicted the officers’ sworn testimony.
The FBI, meanwhile, notified Minnesota authorities last week it would not share any information or evidence it collected in the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers. That killing is the subject of a Justice Department civil rights investigation.
For weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security refused to discuss any aspect of Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries. It has not answered detailed questions from the AP, including whether its officers recorded body-worn camera footage of the arrest.
Agency insists man injured himself
But the agency last week doubled down on its claim that Castañeda Mondragón injured himself.
“On January 8, 2026, ICE conducted a targeted enforcement operation to arrest Alberto Castaneda Mondragon, a 31-year-old illegal alien from Mexico who overstayed his visa,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs “While in handcuffs, Castaneda attempted to escape custody and ran toward a main highway. While running, Castaneda fell and hit his head against a concrete wall.”
McLaughlin’s assertion that Castañeda Mondragón had been targeted for removal was contradicted by a Jan. 20 court filing in which ICE said officers only determined the man overstayed his work visa after he was in custody. McLaughlin did not respond to questions about which account was correct.
Castañeda Mondragón’s lawyers declined to comment on ICE’s statement.
Delay could affect investigations
The criminal investigations could be complicated by the amount of time it took law enforcement to look into the arrest, even as several elected officials called for answers.
St. Paul police told the AP on Feb. 5 that it was aware of “the serious allegations” surrounding the arrest but that it could not begin investigating Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries until he filed a police report — a step that was delayed weeks because of the man’s hospitalization and uncertainty over his immigration status. Police finally took his statement a week ago at the Mexican consulate.
By that point, at least one nearby business had overwritten its surveillance footage.
“It is my expectation that we will investigate past and future allegations of criminal conduct by federal agents to seek the truth and hold accountable anyone who has violated Minnesota law,” John Choi, the chief prosecutor of Ramsey County, said in a statement.
Castañeda Mondragón has been summoned to meet with ICE on Feb. 23 at its main detention facility in Minneapolis, raising the potential he could be taken back into custody and deported.
___ Biesecker reported from Washington and Brook from New Orleans. AP reporter Cedar Attanasio contributed from Seattle.