A Compton man whose thrown rock shattered a government vehicle window and cut a federal officer’s forehead has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Elpidio Reyna, 42, received the 36-month sentence Friday from U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha.

The case grew out of the June 7, 2025 confrontation near a Home Depot in Paramount, California, where federal officers were preparing for a joint immigration-enforcement operation.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the sentence:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said demonstrators began throwing rocks at official vehicles, lighting objects on fire and impeding law-enforcement activity during the confrontation.

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According to Reyna’s plea agreement, he joined that violence by throwing rocks at a convoy carrying Customs and Border Protection officers. One rock struck a vehicle carrying an officer identified in court documents as R.T.

The impact shattered glass and cut the officer’s forehead. Reyna later admitted that he intentionally assaulted a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and caused bodily injury.

He pleaded guilty on February 17 to one felony count of assault on a federal officer by a deadly or dangerous weapon resulting in bodily injury. The Justice Department said he had remained in federal custody since July 2025.

At sentencing, prosecutors addressed Reyna’s statement that his conduct was sudden, emotional and fueled by alcohol because of his anger over U.S. immigration policy. They argued that explanation did not excuse the attack.

Current coverage from Fox News reporter Bill Melugin included images from the case and summarized the sentence:

The confrontation had been captured on widely circulated video, and federal authorities soon identified Reyna as the suspect.

A June 11 Department of Homeland Security notice displayed Reyna’s photograph and announced that the FBI was offering up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. The notice followed the June 7 incident and converted the viral footage into a named federal fugitive search with a public reward.

The notice identified him as a Compton resident and U.S. citizen who was wanted in connection with rocks thrown at federal officers in vehicles during the Los Angeles-area unrest.

DHS directed anyone with information to contact the FBI. Federal authorities also circulated Reyna’s photograph through official channels as the search moved forward.

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By that point, the case had moved beyond an unidentified figure in a video. Investigators had attached a name, photograph and felony allegation to the conduct recorded in Paramount.

The reward notice was issued four days after the incident and remained part of the public manhunt until Reyna entered federal custody the following month. It also supplied the public with a direct FBI tip line while investigators continued looking for him.

CBS News Los Angeles later reported that investigators determined Reyna was in Mexico and publicized his photograph and description there. Its account supplied the missing bridge between the June reward announcement and his July return to U.S. custody at the border.

The station said Mexican authorities located him in Sinaloa. Reyna then agreed to surrender to U.S. authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on July 23, 2025.

According to the report, the FBI described the transfer as a negotiated surrender rather than a surprise arrest. He was taken into custody at the border and brought back into the federal criminal process.

Essayli said the Border Patrol officer who took Reyna into custody had been inside one of the government vehicles attacked during the Paramount confrontation.

Reyna remained detained, entered his guilty plea in February and received his 36-month sentence on September 11. That sequence connected the original public search, the border surrender, the felony plea and the final prison term.

Another current report included video connected to the case and summarized the same sentencing record:

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda N. Galván of the Transnational Organized Crime Section prosecuted it.

The final result is a 36-month federal sentence after Reyna admitted throwing the rock that shattered the vehicle glass and injured the officer.

Featured image: Official FBI photograph of Elpidio Reyna published by the Department of Homeland Security.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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