A man residing in Avondale, Gabriel Mendoza-Acoltzi, has been arrested after being indicted for attempting to set fire to a property owned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Surprise, Arizona, in February.
According to the Department of Justice, a federal grand jury handed down an indictment charging the 19-year-old Mendoza-Acoltzi with Malicious Damage to Federal Property and Willful Depredation Against Property of the United States.
According to court documents, Mendoza-Acoltzi broke a window and attempted to light the building on fire just after 1 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2026.
Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Morrissey granted the United States’ request that Mendoza-Acoltzi be detained pending further court proceedings.
According to court documents, a video camera in the area of the ICE property captured Mendoza-Acoltzi’s Honda Civic entering the parking lot around 12 am on Feb. 21. Mendoza-Acoltzi can be seen exiting the vehicle and placing a propane tank next to the ICE building. Later video shows Mendoza-Acoltzi swinging the propane tank at a window on the building, breaking the glass, and using a long torch connected to the tank to light the window shades inside the lobby on fire.
Video from the scene also shows Mendoza-Acoltizi moving between the sidewalk and the rock landscaping at the ICE property. When responding to the incident, investigators observed a profane anti-ICE message spelled out with landscaping rocks on the sidewalk.
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