Immigrant settles lawsuit over alleged border patrol assault

Ferndale City Council member was involved in altercation

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An illegal immigrant has received $48,000 from the federal government to settle a lawsuit involving Ferndale City Councilman Steve Malpezzi.

Isabel Valencia-Perez alleged he was assaulted and illegally arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents Malpezzi and Daryl Schermerhorn in Mount Vernon.

Malpezzi declined to comment Monday, Nov. 30, about the incident.

The Seattle Times reports that the lawsuit filed on behalf of Valencia-Perez was settled by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors, who declined to comment.

The incident occurred in 2006 as Valencia-Perez was waiting for his son to get off the bus from school, according to a Mount Vernon Police Department report from June 16 of that year. That was when Malpezzi and Schermerhorn approached Valencia-Perez in plain clothes to speak to him about his immigration status, according to the report.

In his 2006 statement to Mount Vernon police, Malpezzi said they stopped because Valencia-Perez appeared agitated and was squirming as if he wanted to get up when he saw them coming in an unmarked Border Patrol vehicle.

Witnesses who provided statements to police said it appeared Malpezzi and Schermerhorn were beating the suspect, kicking him twice in the side and hitting him in the face.

In a 2007 interview during his Ferndale City Council race, Malpezzi said that Valencia-Perez was resisting arrest and "getting out of control," so he made the decision to "wrap it up quickly, get it under control" by pulling his gun. When he did, Valencia-Perez stopped his resistance.

The issue became so high profile that Valencia-Perez's attorney was paid for by the Mexican consulate. He was represented by Seattle-based attorney Manuel Rios.

The FBI began a civil-rights investigation into the incident, looking into allegations of excessive force and that customs agents had set a high bail for Valencia-Perez and tried to have him quickly deported to Mexico. Ultimately, no charges were filed against the agents or Valencia-Perez.

Valencia-Perez's attorney says the Department of Homeland Security later dropped efforts to deport him and that he and his family remain in the U.S.