It finally happened. After waiting only a couple of weeks, we got the answer I promised PJ Media readers to the question, How long a stretch could you do in federal prison for stealing an ICE vehicle during an active bust?
Answer: ten years.
Bobby Nuñez is the name of the man whom federal prosecutors believe brazenly hooked up his tow truck to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle and drove it away while officers were actively arresting the woman I call TikTok Tatiana. Leidy Tatiana Mafla-Martinez is a Colombian national who snuck into the United States during Joe Biden’s Administration and tried to make it as a TikTok influencer. As she resisted arrest and screamed, federal prosecutors say, Nuñez actively tried to help her resist and then threatened ICE agents.
Related: ICE Doxxer Is Busted While Livestreaming … and Suddenly a Tow Truck Shows Up
When the federal crackdown on the millions of illegal aliens — Joe’s Kids — who illegally poured into the country got underway, TikTok Tatiana began to tell her 40,000 followers where the ICE agents were located. And crowds followed her. The newcomer was already popped for a DUI, as I reported in this story: DHS: The Busted ICE-Doxxing TikTok Influencer Is a Criminal Illegal Alien.
How it started vs. How it’s going
ARRESTED: Bobby Nunez is now under arrest for brazenly towing an ICE vehicle. He is charged with theft of government property.
Apparently he thought it would be funny to interfere with our immigration enforcement operations. Now he can laugh… pic.twitter.com/6LbjCwdcBP
— Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) September 2, 2025
But the 33-year-old man is accused of adding to his issues with the feds by allegedly opening the door of the car from which Mafla-Martinez was livestreaming, in the parking garage of her upscale apartment in Los Angeles.
According to the feds, it was Nuñez who opened TikTok Tatiana’s passenger door to save her from being arrested by ICE. The feds say in a press release announcing his arrest that when he was told to get away, Nuñez “swore at the officers and told them ‘Something was going to happen’” to them.
Tatiana Martinez’s last video before ICE took her into costudy in downtown Los Angeles.
She grew her TikTok to 30k and would often share videos telling protestors and rioters where ICE agents would be. They pulled her from the Tesla she is in this video. pic.twitter.com/X7zQmBKvAk
— Sarah Sansoni (@sarahsansoni) August 16, 2025
That “something” apparently was Nuñez retrieving his nearby tow truck and towing the ICE vehicle, with its lights flashing and keys and a gun inside. He’s alleged to have left the ICE car parked two blocks away.
He was immediately chased on foot by ICE agents, but it took until Tuesday to announce his arrest.
Department of Homeland Security officials told me that, as he drove away, Nuñez was laughing and filming the officers chasing him. I reported this in the article, EXCLUSIVE: DHS Investigating ‘Laughing’ Tow Truck Driver Who Illegally Towed ICE Vehicle in L.A. Nuñez reportedly posted the video to his social media, which is how they finally located the tow truck driver.
Nuñez is charged with stealing government property.
LA Magazine reported details from the charging documents, which include Nuñez crowing over his Aug. 15 actions on social media, “which led to his arrest.”
The agent who gave chase was named in the complaint as “Officer J.A.” which goes on to describe an Instagram video posted by Nunez in which the agent “is seen jogging after the tow truck to stop it, Officer J.A. then returns to the arrest scene without the government vehicle.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Nuñez was in court Tuesday afternoon.
Bobby Nunez, 33, of South Los Angeles, was arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging him with stealing a government vehicle used during an immigration arrest last month. Nunez’s initial appearance is expected this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. He… pic.twitter.com/dBtJDdHSSn
— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) September 2, 2025
Prosecutors say Nuñez “press[ed] the passenger side door of her vehicle on an officer, who then threatened Nunez with arrest.” He swore at the officers and went to retrieve his tow truck.
“A second man then approached Martinez’s vehicle to interfere with the arrests,” prosecutors said. “While officers addressed this man’s interference, Nunez got into his Dodge tow truck and towed one of the government vehicles that was boxing in Martinez’s vehicle.”
It turns out that Nuñez parked his tow truck at the same luxury apartment garage where TikTok Tatiana livestreamed her arrest — another data point that led to his arrest.
Acting U.S Attorney Bill Essayli said on X after Nuñez’s arrest that he could now “laugh behind bars while he faces justice. Nunez is looking at up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.”
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