Homeland Security Investigations agents pepper-sprayed bystanders during Phoenix-area Zipps raids that arrested 39 workers

On January 26, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations agents served court-authorized search warrants at 15 Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Phoenix metro area -- including Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale -- as part of a months-long criminal investigation into employment-document fraud at the chain. Federal authorities said 39 people were taken into custody, among them Jose Barrera and Monica Jimenez, a married couple who had worked at Zipps for 18 years; their daughter was left caring for her three younger siblings, one of whom has autism.

As agents left multiple locations, video captured them pepper-spraying bystanders and protesters who had gathered to watch or object to the operation. At a north Phoenix location, an agent riding in an unmarked truck rolled down the window and sprayed a group standing on the sidewalk as the vehicle drove off; a similar incident was captured at a Scottsdale location, and a woman pepper-sprayed outside the Tempe location was hospitalized. Dr. Roy Taylor, a police-procedures expert who reviewed the north Phoenix video, said he saw no justification for the use of force, and Michael Gennaco, who advises law enforcement agencies on use-of-force policy, called it "an act of retaliation" rather than enforcement.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona characterized the operation as a criminal investigation by Homeland Security Investigations rather than an immigration enforcement action. Raul Pina, a member of the community advisory board overseeing the Melendres v. MCSO racial-profiling settlement, disputed that framing, saying the raids resulted in dozens of workplace arrests using tactics he said were pioneered by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Updates

2026-01-29 — U.S. Attorney indicted four Zipps employees on document-fraud charges [6]

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona announced criminal indictments against four Zipps employees, including the manager accused of overseeing kitchen hiring chain-wide, on charges of falsifying I-9 employment-eligibility forms and related identity-document offenses. Federal authorities said the remaining 35 people arrested in the raids were not criminally charged.

2026-03-10 — Zipps kitchen-staffing overseer pleaded guilty to identity-document fraud [7]

Diego Gonzalez-Rosales, the Zipps employee accused of overseeing kitchen hiring across the chain's locations, pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawfully transferring or using identification documents to help another person misrepresent their immigration status. Under the plea agreement he faces at least five months in prison and possible deportation; sentencing was scheduled for June 1, 2026.

2026-06-01 — Zipps kitchen-staffing overseer sentenced to five months in prison [8]

Diego Gonzalez-Rosales was sentenced in federal court to five months in custody, consistent with his plea agreement, and faces possible deportation following his sentence.