Federal charges filed after ICE raid at Kings Mountain business

KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Federal charges have now been brought after a Homeland Security Investigations raid at Buckeye Fire Equipment last month.

Officials say around 30 people were detained, and at least eight of them are now charged with federal crimes.

Allegations against one employee accuse him of using a fake ID to work at the company and going undetected for years.

When ICE raided Buckeye Fire Equipment two weeks ago, workers described the chaos.

“They had masks on, they had their guns drawn, they were like we need everybody to go in the front, we need everybody to go in the front,” said Erick Pinon, a worker at Buckeye Fire who sent Queen City News pictures and video of the raid.

Pinon, a U.S. citizen, said federal agents were interested in one thing.

“That’s when they led us all outside, from the pictures I showed you, they were asking us questions: are you, anybody in there a U.S. citizen or not a U.S. citizen?” said Pinon.

But Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Queen City News they were looking for more at Buckeye Fire Equipment on Kings Road, carrying out a criminal search warrant for aggravated identity theft.

“Would you want your identities used to work or do whatever they’re going to do with them, so it’s a serious federal crime,” said Lindsay Williams, spokesperson for ICE.

New court documents show eight people are now facing federal charges from the raid.

Seven people are charged with illegally returning to the United States after they had been deported in the past and another worker, Jose De La Cruz-Lopez, is charged with using a fake ID and Social Security card and lying on his I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form.

Investigators say Cruz-Lopez paid someone $100 to make a fake ID card with his friend’s name and Cruz-Lopez’s picture.

Court documents say Cruz-Lopez’s friend allowed him to use his identity to work, and in return, the friend would file income tax returns.

Cruz-Lopez worked at Buckeye Fire for about three years and told investigators that he was paid by a debit card, and he did not think the company was aware that he was using a fake ID.