ICE Agents Choke US Citizen Teen, Steal Phone, Sell It at Vending Machine
critical documented
Location
Houston, Texas
Date
January 15, 2026
Department
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Agency Type
ICE
Source
ProPublica / Futurism
Description
Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old 10th grader and US citizen, was put in a suffocating chokehold by ICE agents while getting McDonald's with his father in Houston. He filmed the violent arrest of his father (agents pressed knee into neck) but agents confiscated his phone. Using 'Find My Phone,' he discovered it at an electronics vending machine near an ICE detention center - agents apparently sold it for cash. Arnoldo was hospitalized at Texas Children's trauma unit for chokehold injuries. Agents threatened to charge him with assaulting an officer if his father didn't agree to deportation. Father now in Mexico.
Location Map
Victims
- Arnoldo Bazan
Tags
chokehold us-citizen minor phone-theft property-theft coercion hospitalization houston