Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco is facing criminal complaints after allegedly stalking a local hairstylist she accused of working for ICE.
Pacheco, who is currently running for Fresno County Board of Supervisors, allegedly tailed Eric Bridges for nearly 30 minutes on Oct. 14 through residential streets, according to a criminal complaint. The mayor then blocked his vehicle and confronted him with the unfounded claim that he was secretly an immigration agent, the filing states.
Surveillance footage captured an orange Nissan Altima following Bridges’ white car through a neighborhood cul-de-sac. The two vehicles appear to pull side-by-side, though a tree partially obscures the view. Audio from the encounter records Bridges’ growing frustration at being followed.
“I didn’t know you owned the neighborhood,” Bridges is heard saying in the footage, also mentioning ICE and noting that someone had followed him for 45 minutes.
A separate video shows a woman in sunglasses who appears to be Pacheco seated in the Nissan before driving away. Bridges is heard angrily cursing at her as she leaves.
“Don’t ever in your f–king life follow me you weird-a– b–ch,” he says.
According to the complaint, Pacheco told Bridges: “I’m looking for ICE and you look like ICE.” When Bridges asked who she was, she reportedly would not identify herself by name, instead stating only that she was “someone important.”
Bridges’ attorney, Roger Bonakdar, submitted complaints to both the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office. Bonakdar emphasized that his client has no connection to ICE whatsoever.
“As an elected official and a representative for a California legislator, Ms. Pacheco isn’t a peace officer and has no business role-playing as one for social media clout or political favor,” Bonakdar told Fox 26. “Mr. Bridges has been seriously harmed as a consequence of Maria Pacheco’s careless politicking, and he will pursue every avenue available for justice.”
Pacheco dismissed the allegations when reached by The Fresno Bee.
“If he wants to go to court, then we’ll go to court,” Pacheco said. “That’s all I can say.” She called Bridges’ complaint “ridiculous.”
The incident comes at a politically sensitive moment for Pacheco. Just six days before the alleged confrontation, on Oct. 8, she recorded video of apparent ICE agents detaining people outside a bakery in Kerman. That footage drew thousands of shares on social media, generating significant attention during a cycle where Democratic voters have been mobilizing behind anti-ICE candidates.
The Oct. 14 encounter with Bridges represents a dramatic escalation from recording federal agents to personally pursuing a private citizen she suspected of being one. The surveillance footage and audio recordings now form the core evidence in the criminal complaints against her.
Bridges has indicated he intends to file charges against Pacheco over the accusation and pursuit. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office now holds the complaints, though no charges have been publicly announced.
Pacheco’s campaign for county supervisor has leaned heavily on immigration enforcement as a central theme. The viral Oct. 8 bakery video boosted her profile among progressive voters in the Central Valley district, but the Bridges incident threatens to complicate that momentum with questions about her judgment and conduct.
The mayor did not respond to additional requests for comment beyond her brief statement to The Fresno Bee.
Pacheco faces a contested race for the Board of Supervisors seat with the election approaching in the coming weeks.