The Brief

Police in Huntington Park arrested a man this week who they said tried to impersonate a federal immigration agent.

The Tuesday arrest comes amid heightened fears over immigration enforcement sweeps by masked agents across Southern California.

Police arrested Fernando Diaz, 23, of Los Angeles after they found him in possession of an unlicensed handgun, three handheld radios mounted on the center console of his car, and a list of radio codes for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to city officials.

LAist is working to find out whether Diaz has an attorney, and if he has been charged in court.

Details about the arrest

According to Huntington Park officials, police officers were initially drawn to a car, later linked to Diaz, that was parked without a handicap placard in a handicapped space. They said the car was an unmarked Dodge Durango with red and blue lights like the ones law enforcement use hidden under the car’s visors.

Officers ran the plates with dispatch and learned it was not registered to law enforcement.

Diaz claimed he worked as a security guard and had been with Customs and Border Protection but could not provide any identifying information, according to Huntington Beach Police Chief Cosme Lozano.

“A sheet containing radio codes, multiple copies of passports not registered to the individual’s name and other miscellaneous items indicative of criminal activity,” Lozano said at a Friday news conference.

The chief said Diaz also had official-looking documents bearing the name Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection.

Diaz was arrested on an outstanding DUI warrant. He had a prior arrest related to human smuggling, but no conviction, according to city officials.

LAist has reached out to the county District Attorney's Office for more information about any charges that may have been filed against Diaz. We will update the story when we get a response.

Heightened fears over ICE raids

Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores noted the arrest comes as people are facing raids by masked immigration agents in unmarked cars.

“The presence of law enforcement style equipment without any verified authority raises serious concerns,” Flores said. “When people cannot trust who is enforcing the law, public safety is undermined and fear begins to take hold.”

“We cannot allow bad actors — whether they are rogue individuals or unauthorized impersonators — to intimidate and exploit our community,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Huntington Park City Council passed a resolution directing police to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be a federal immigration agent in the city.

“Let me be clear, Huntington Park is not attempting to obstruct legal federal operations. What we are saying is simple, if you are acting with federal authority, then show it,” Flores said. “Do not hide behind unmarked vehicles and face masks.”

Flores said local law enforcement has sought for decades to build trust with immigrant communities, but current ICE operations are eroding that.

“There is a better way to conduct enforcement — one that does not terrorize neighborhoods or blur the line between lawful action and dangerous intimidation,” he said.

The city resolution also said Huntington Park “strongly condemns using unmarked vehicles, masked agents, and unidentifiable personnel in immigration enforcement activities conducted within the City, and views such tactics as harmful to public trust, community safety, and constitutional protections.”

Meantime, a new California bill — called the “No Vigilantes Act” — would require law enforcement working in the state to clearly display identification information, including either name or badge number, and ban bounty hunters from engaging in any form of immigration enforcement.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Friends & Family Flea is returning to Koreatown. Organizers plan to make the flea market a monthly event in the neighborhood and offer reduced registration fees for local vendors.

The market will take place on Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 from noon to 5 p.m. at Un-Other Space at 524 S. Western Ave.

The first market was held in September and drew more people to the space than organizers expected. Friends & Family Flea co-founder Kioh Park said more than 400 people RSVP’d but roughly 650 to 700 people attended.

Some attendees told Park they lived just a few blocks away and had learned about the market through social media or The LA Local’s coverage.

The response convinced the organizers to continue. 

“It was a trial, but definitely we saw the demand from the vendors and attendees,” Park said. “That’s why we want to keep pushing this.”

Organizers plan to invite back vendors from the first market while bringing in new vendors.

They plan to keep the market at Un-Other Space as vendors and attendees responded well to the indoor venue, Park said. 

Attendees play Go-Stop with the LA Hwatu-Hanafuda Club at the first Friends & Family Flea in Koreatown on Sept. 26, 2026.

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Courtesy of Friends & Family Flea

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The organizers are also trying to make the market more accessible to neighborhood businesses. Vendors based in Koreatown can qualify for a reduced registration fee by providing proof of their address, such as a driver’s license or mailing address. Vendors from outside the neighborhood pay a different rate.

“Just so we can have more people who live in that neighborhood and then who do small business there join,” Park said.

The resident-rate program is part of their broader goal of building markets around individual neighborhoods, Park added. 

The flea grew out of Park and Byun’s experience building MAUM Market, a traveling market for Asian and Asian American makers. Park, who grew up in South Korea, first visited Los Angeles in 2016 and later moved to Koreatown, where the two met and developed their business.

“L.A. Koreatown was really, it was really kind of a shock. It feels like a late 1980s, early 1990s, Korea vibe. So it reminds me of my childhood. And there’s a lot of mom and pop shops, so it was really an interesting experience for me,” he said.

Park said he had struggled to apply to established flea markets as a vendor because of language barriers and complicated paperwork.

“Back in the day, I didn’t speak English well, I wasn’t able to understand English well, and the process, paperwork was all very complicated,” he said.

Park said organizers plan to continue their partnership with the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, with proceeds from sales of Friends & Family Flea hats going to the nonprofit.

For more information about becoming a vendor, check out the Friends and Family Flea webpage.

An Orange County judge has approved a $125 million settlement with the company that owns a chemical tank in Garden Grove that failed earlier this year, forcing about 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate for days as the tank threatened to explode.

The agreement between the Orange County District Attorney and GKN Aerospace sets aside up to $100 million for a claim program for residents and businesses who were forced to evacuate.

What’s covered in the claim program?

Those affected can be reimbursed for expenses like hotel stays and loss of wages. That includes:

• Up to $300 a night for lodging, up to five nights
• A $500 payment per household for the loss of using their home
• Up to $500 per day in lost wages for hourly employees who missed work due to the evacuation, up to three working days
• Up to $5,000 per day in lost profits for businesses that had to close during the evacuation

An additional $8.5 million will be used to reimburse government agencies that responded to the emergency.

The company has agreed to a safety plan, which includes new equipment and upgrades to existing equipment, and monitoring and oversight for at least the next seven years.

What’s next?

GKN says it will hold a community event on Oct. 27 so residents can learn about the claim program, though details about the event haven’t yet been released.

The company says now that the agreement has been court-approved, the claim program will open “as soon as possible.” To prepare, GKN said residents should keep receipts related to their expenses during their evacuation.

"Additional guidance on acceptable documentation will be provided when the program opens," according to a company FAQ site.