Avondale Man Faces Federal Charges After Setting Fire to ICE Property in Arizona

PHOENIX, Ariz. – A man was taken into custody May 7, 2026, after being indicted for setting fire to a property owned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Surprise, Arizona, in February. A federal grand jury handed down an indictment charging Gabriel Mendoza-Acoltzi, 19, of Avondale, Arizona, with Malicious Damage to Federal Property and Willful Depredation Against Property of the United States. According to court documents, Mendoza-Acoltzi broke a window and attempted to light the building on fire just after 1 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2026. Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Morrissey granted the United States’ request that Mendoza-Acoltzi be detained pending further court proceedings. According to court documents, a video camera in the area of the ICE property captured Mendoza-Acoltzi’s Honda Civic entering the parking lot around 12 am on Feb. 21. Mendoza-Acoltzi can be seen exiting the vehicle and placing a propane tank next to the ICE building. Later video shows Mendoza-Acoltzi swinging the propane tank at a window on the building, breaking the glass, and using a long torch connected to the tank to light the window shades inside the lobby on fire. Video from the scene also shows Mendoza-Acoltizi moving between the sidewalk and the rock landscaping at the ICE property. When responding to the incident, investigators observed a profane anti-ICE message spelled out with landscaping rocks on the sidewalk. A conviction for Malicious Damage to Federal Property carries a penalty of five to 20 years in the Bureau of Prisons, up to a $250,000 fine, and one to three years of supervised release.