LA Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Hurling Rocks, Flaming Debris at CHP Officers

Ismael Vega, 42, of Westlake received a three-year federal prison term for attacking California Highway Patrol officers during anti-ICE riots in downtown LA.

Los Angeles Man Sentenced in Anti-ICE Riot Attack on Highway Patrol Officers

A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for throwing rocks and burning debris at California Highway Patrol officers from a freeway overpass during violent anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles last summer, NY Post Metro reports.

Ismael Vega, 42, of the Westlake neighborhood, received the sentence Monday and was also ordered to pay $253,415 in restitution.

Vega was among a large group of protesters gathered on the Main Street overpass above Highway 101 on June 8, 2025, according to the Department of Justice. During the demonstration, a CHP vehicle was set on fire below the overpass.

The protesters, including Vega, gathered cardboard, vegetation and fireworks, lit the items aflame and dropped them over the railing, targeting a CHP vehicle that sat close to officers stationed underneath.

In his plea agreement, Vega acknowledged that he knew officers were positioned below and that dropping burning debris onto the vehicle created a serious risk of death or bodily injury. On April 29, he pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement during the protest.

Vega further admitted to repeatedly assisting others in igniting debris on the overpass. He lit a large sheet of cardboard, held it over the railing and aligned it so it would fall onto the hood of a CHP vehicle — which it did.

A second individual, Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights, poured an unidentified liquid onto the fire to intensify the flames while Vega stood beside him, using his hands to gesture toward the blaze, authorities said.

Vega also acknowledged picking up and hurling rocks directly at law enforcement officers as they attempted to clear the overpass, and admitted he deliberately acted to interfere with officers in the performance of their duties.

"This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "A sergeant in the California Highway Patrol with nearly three decades in law enforcement wrote a statement about how this incident stood apart and the impact it had on him and his son. His experience underscores how violent this incident became and the deep toll it took on all law enforcement present."

Vega is the fifth defendant sentenced in connection with the case. Flores is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3 and faces up to five years in federal prison.

The lead defendant, Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, is set to be sentenced on December 14 and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. Palermo pleaded guilty to a felony count of assaulting, resisting and impeding persons assisting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

The FBI led the investigation with assistance from the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Source: NY Post Metro