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Van Nuys Car Wash Owner, 79, Files $50 Million Civil-Rights Claim Over Immigration Raid

The filing, backed by surveillance video and medical records, challenges DHS’s account of a Border Patrol-led operation, preceding a potential lawsuit.

Overview

  • Rafie Ollah Shouhed submitted an administrative claim seeking $50 million over a Sept. 9 raid at Valley Car Wash, alleging agents shoved, body-slammed, and pinned him.
  • Surveillance footage reviewed by outlets shows an agent pushing Shouhed inside the business, and he says one officer pressed a knee on his neck during a takedown outside.
  • Shouhed reports he was held nearly 12 hours at the Metropolitan Detention Center without medical care despite warning of a heart condition, later receiving treatment for broken ribs, elbow injuries, and post-concussive symptoms.
  • DHS says U.S. Border Patrol conducted a targeted operation that arrested five undocumented immigrants and asserts the owner impeded the action and assaulted an officer before being released without charges.
  • ICE told NBC Los Angeles it was not involved, while the claim names DHS, CBP, Border Patrol, and ICE, and the filing alleges excessive force and civil-rights violations as a prerequisite step before any suit.