CBP agents smashed a livestreaming bystander's car window and detained her for hours at an El Monte, California gas station

On January 30, 2026, Maria Santay, a U.S. citizen and self-described community observer of immigration enforcement, was livestreaming from a Chevron station at Peck Road and Valley Boulevard in El Monte, California, around 2 p.m. when federal agents responding to a Customs and Border Protection call surrounded her car. Her livestream shows an agent breaking her window with a hammer as she cried out, "They're breaking my window guys, I'm a U.S. citizen," and told viewers she believed the encounter might be her last moments.

Agents then placed Santay in their vehicle and drove her roughly 40 miles round trip to Santa Ana and back before releasing her that evening; her charges, she said, include resisting arrest. El Monte police officers were present at the scene and did not intervene; the El Monte Police Department said in a statement that its officers responded to CBP's call to support public safety but "were not involved in the federal operation." Santay said she was denied access to a restroom afterward and was made to urinate, still handcuffed, in a parking lot.

Santay said the detention followed what she believed was an intimidation stop by immigration agents two days earlier, when officers pulled her over near the 10 Freeway and told her, on video, "that's your first warning" — an incident she says has left her believing she has been targeted because of her role observing enforcement operations. CBP had not responded to a request for comment by publication.

Updates

2026-02-11 — DHS charged Santay with resisting and impeding officers [2]

The Department of Homeland Security issued Maria Santay two violations: "assaulting, resisting or impeding officers" and "conspiracy to impede or injure officers," confirming the resisting-arrest charge she had described.

2026-02-12 — El Monte police released bodycam footage of the encounter [3]

El Monte Police Department released body-camera video showing an officer telling Santay she could not follow federal agents and that doing so would prompt police involvement, before CBP agents broke her car window. Police Chief Jake Fisher said the department's officers "pulled back" once notified that federal agents were on scene.