The criminal case against a man arrested after federal agents blew the front door off of his family’s Huntington Park home in June has been dismissed.
A motion to dismiss the case against Jorge Sierra Hernandez was filed July 17 by the United States Attorney’s Office about a month after he was arrested.
The federal criminal complaint filed against 32-year-old Hernandez accused him of injuring government property when he was involved in a June 20 collision with a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle in Bell during an immigration enforcement operation. The criminal complaint also accused Hernandez in a June 13 altercation during an immigration enforcement operation in Maywood.
The criminal case against Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was dismissed without prejudice, a temporary dismissal that would allow prosecutors to refile the same charges.
“When the prosecutor says, ‘I give up. I’m dismissing this criminal case.’ There are two ways to do it,” said NBCLA legal analyst Royal Oakes. “One way is to say, ‘You’re never gonna hear from me again. I’m never gonna recharge you.’ The other way is what they’re doing now. They’re saying, ‘We’re dismissing it, but we could recharge you anytime we want.’
A resident who was inside with two children, ages 6 and 1, said about a dozen federal agents entered her home after the door was blasted off. Alex Rozier reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on June 27, 2025.
“One reason the government may be dismissing these cases on the basis of being able to recharge folks is they don’t want people to talk about the case, and their lawyers are probably telling them to clam up.”
The search for Hernandez led to his family’s home in Huntington Park, where federal agents in tactical gear approached the residence on the morning of June 27 and set off an explosion that blew the house’s front door off and shattered a window. Hernandez was not home at the time, but his girlfriend and her children, ages 1 and 6, were inside during the early morning raid.
“I just heard the loudest blast of my life,” resident Jenny Ramirez told NBCLA. “I told them, “You didn’t have to do this. You scared my son, my baby and myself.’
Ramirez said the agents told her they were looking for her boyfriend, adding that she assumed the operation might have something to do with the collision. Ramirez said he called later that morning and told her Border Patrol contacted him and said he needed to turn himself in to authorities.
NBCLA attempted to contact Hernandez Thursday, but did not hear back by Thursday afternoon.
The Border Patrol operations in June came after weeks of immigration enforcement operations around Southern California. The Department of Homeland Security has said the operations, including ICE raids, will continue as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan, a central promise of his presidential campaign.