An illegal immigrant who poured lighter fluid on a burning California Highway Patrol cruiser while officers were trapped below a Los Angeles freeway overpass was sentenced Monday to 37 months in federal prison — another preventable crime courtesy of an immigration system that refuses to enforce its own laws.
Yachua Mauricio Flores, a 23-year-old Mexican national, was also ordered to pay $253,415 in restitution for his role in the June 8, 2025 anti-ICE riot that rocked downtown Los Angeles. According to court records, Flores stood on the Main Street overpass above U.S. Highway 101 and dumped lighter fluid from two separate bottles onto a burning CHP vehicle, then directed another rioter to spray more accelerant onto the flames. He helped throw an electric scooter over the railing toward officers and patrol vehicles below. He admitted he knew officers were trapped and acknowledged his actions created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
This wasn't a spontaneous act. This was a coordinated assault on law enforcement during a riot that erupted over federal immigration enforcement — meaning Flores, an illegal immigrant himself, was attacking the very officers enforcing the laws he'd already broken by being here.
The New York Post noted that Flores came to the U.S. as a toddler and has no previous criminal history. That detail is meant to humanize. It does the opposite. It indicts every administration — Republican and Democrat — that let an illegal immigrant remain in this country for two decades without consequence, until the consequences arrived in the form of a burning police cruiser and officers fighting for their lives.
Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli stated plainly: "Violent attacks on law enforcement will result in federal prison time. Those who escalate chaos and endanger officers will be held accountable." On X, he added: "Another day, another illegal immigration rioter from last summer is sent to federal prison. Actions have consequences."
Seven people have been charged in the overpass attack. Ismael Vega, 42, received the same 37-month sentence last week. Adam Charles Palermo, 40, identified by prosecutors as the lead participant, pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon and faces up to 20 years at his December 14 sentencing.
Flores pleaded guilty in April to one count of obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Three years for nearly killing cops with fire and flying debris — while in the country illegally.
The riot unfolded two days after violence erupted during federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles. Six men have now pleaded guilty to hurling fireworks, rocks, and flaming objects at CHP officers in what prosecutors describe as a large-scale assault outside Roybal.
Here's the question neither outlet asks: How many more Yachua Floreses are living in this country right now because both parties decided enforcement was too politically expensive? Thirty-seven months and a quarter-million in restitution won't undo the policy failure that put him on that overpass in the first place.
