Organizer who's clashed with ICE arrested after crime spree

Guillermo Medina Reyes tried to take vehicles from a man whose toddler was in the back seat, a big rig trucker and a woman pumping gas, police said.

Organizer who's clashed with ICE arrested after crime spree
The Berkeley crime spree took place Sunday morning at several businesses on San Pablo Avenue, including a local gas station and two cafes, police said. Google Street View

A San Jose tattoo artist whose battle with ICE has made headlines in recent weeks is in trouble again after a Sunday morning crime spree in Berkeley, according to police and community reports.

Since early July, Bay Area immigrant rights groups have been rallying support for 31-year-old Guillermo Medina Reyes, saying he had been targeted for deportation due to his organizing work after serving time in prison for attempted murder.

On Sunday, Berkeley police arrested Medina Reyes after he tried to take vehicles from several people, including a man whose toddler was in the backseat, a big rig trucker and a woman in her 60s who was pumping gas, authorities said.

Limited information was available as of publication time, but at least one of the incidents was classified as a carjacking.

The Scanner spoke with police and witnesses Monday and reviewed hours of emergency dispatches to piece together a preliminary report.

On Sunday morning, the Berkeley Fire Department was dispatched to Cafe Leila, at 1724 San Pablo Ave., to help a man who appeared to be having medical problems.

Witnesses said the man, who had braids and tattoos but no shirt, ran off as authorities approached.

As firefighters looked on, the man tried to steal a Prius at a nearby gas station before running away, according to dispatch traffic.

Authorities quickly caught up with him and took him into custody, then began trying to make sense of what had happened.

As police worked to investigate, they determined that the man had tried to carjack a big rig from a driver in the 1800 block of San Pablo Avenue, snatching his phone after failing to get the truck going, according to emergency dispatches.

The same morning, he reportedly went into a rental car agency and stole a walkie-talkie before leaving.

At nearby Acme Bread Company, at San Pablo and Cedar Street, he tried to take a man's vehicle that had a toddler inside, police said.

When that didn't work, he got into a confrontation with a woman at the gas station across the street, authorities said.

"You don't think it's ever going to happen to you"

The woman told The Scanner she and her dog were coming from the farmers market when she noticed a stranger running toward her at the gas station.

Initially, she didn't think much of it. But he kept getting closer.

"I thought maybe he wanted to rob me," she said.

When he got to her car, the two began to struggle over the door and her dog started barking from the back seat.

When the man got into the car, the woman began screaming at the top of her lungs and, instinctively, sprayed the man with gasoline.

Ultimately, the shirtless man jumped out of the car and shoved the woman to the ground before running off, she said.

She felt fortunate to have escaped, shaken but without serious injury, she added.

"You can't plan for it," she said. "You don't think it's ever going to happen to you."

Minutes later, at about 9:20 a.m., police detained Medina Reyes at San Pablo and Page Street, according to radio traffic. During the detention, they deployed Narcan.

Officers took statements from multiple victims and witnesses as they put the case together in the hours that followed.

Over the radio, the Berkeley Fire Department said Medina Reyes had been "combative and altered" but was stable on the ride to the hospital.

After he was medically cleared at Alta Bates, police took him to Berkeley Jail to be booked.

He was later taken to a different hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and, as of publication time, did not appear to have returned to jail.

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The Berkeley Scanner was the first to report this incident.

Guillermo Medina Reyes has been fighting deportation

Guillermo Medina Reyes at a press conference in July. California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice

In recent weeks, Medina Reyes made headlines around the Bay Area after sharing his story in the face of potential deportation, his supporters have said.

Most recently, in mid-July, a federal judge blocked ICE from picking him up until at least this week, according to a prior press release from Pangea Legal Services and the Northern California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice.

His next court hearing in the federal case had been set for today, July 29, the immigrant rights groups had said.

The groups launched a public campaign to help Medina Reyes after he learned he would be arrested in San Jose at a July 1 appointment with the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they said.

More than 100 people turned up to rally outside the appointment to show their support for Medina Reyes, who was described as a "beloved local tattoo artist" who had been "rebuilding his life after incarceration."

Following the meeting, federal authorities required him to wear a GPS monitor and check in more often, in addition to setting "a tight geographic limit" on his movements, supporters said.

"Guillermo has lived in the United States since he was about 6 years old," they wrote in early July. "However, since he was born in another country, Guillermo experienced the injustice of double punishment when he was transferred to ICE detention after serving a prison sentence instead of being given the opportunity to reenter society freely."

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A SAN JOSE TATTOO ARTIST facing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention cannot be taken into custody until a federal immigration judge issues a

According to court records reviewed by TBS as well as media reports from earlier this month, Medina Reyes was just 16, in 2010, when he caught an attempted murder case in Santa Clara County.

Despite being a minor, he was charged as an adult and sent to prison.

(No details about that case were immediately available but TBS is attempting to learn more.)

After his release from prison, Medina Reyes was held in ICE custody for more than a year, his supporters wrote.

During that time, he "constantly defended his rights and those of the people around him," participating in a labor strike and helping to organize a month-long hunger strike, among other work. "As a named plaintiff in several lawsuits, he played a key role in holding ICE and [the GEO Group] accountable for their abuses."

In 2023, he was released on bond from ICE detention and "has continued to dedicate himself to transformation, healing, and community care," supporters wrote. "He has built meaningful relationships, contributed through art and advocacy, and taken intentional steps to heal from the trauma of incarceration and detention."

In a prepared statement dated July 16, Pangea Legal Services co-director Esperanza Cuautle said she had met Medina Reyes in 2022.

"I’ve seen his growth, his leadership, his drive for justice and for collective liberation, and that’s the reason why we’re here," she wrote. "We all share the same value, that our liberation is collective or it won’t be liberation at all."

Pangea lauded Medina Reyes for his "bravery in challenging this federal agency’s attempts to lock him up" and said the group hoped he would serve as motivation for others fighting for their own rights in the face of injustice.

"We shouldn’t be afraid to fight for what’s fair, what’s just and what’s humane," Medina Reyes said in a press release, thanking the community for its support. "I hope that everybody keeps on fighting and pushing, not just for me, but for the people that are gonna come, generation after generation, because if we don’t put a stop to this now, it’s going to get worse for them, and we can’t let that happen.”

His Berkeley arrest was not his only brush with Bay Area police this year, although it appears to be the most serious.

Police in Morgan Hill arrested him in May on suspicion of robbery and vandalism, according to public records, resulting in felony vandalism charges in Santa Clara County on July 15. His next court appearance in that case is set for September.

The Scanner will continue to seek details as the cases develop.