A 19-year-old Avondale man has been federally indicted after prosecutors accused him of setting fire to a warehouse in Surprise slated to become a future Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona identified the suspect as Gabriel Mendoza-Acoltzi, who now faces charges of malicious damage to federal property and willful depredation against property owned by the United States.
Authorities said Mendoza-Acoltzi was arrested last week after U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Morrissey approved prosecutors’ request to keep him in custody while the case moves forward.
According to court documents, surveillance footage from Feb. 21 allegedly shows Mendoza-Acoltzi driving a Honda Civic into the parking lot of the warehouse near West Sweetwater Avenue shortly after midnight. Investigators claim the footage captured him carrying a propane tank toward the building before using it to smash a window.
Prosecutors allege he then used a torch attached to the tank to ignite window shades inside the structure, sparking the fire. Authorities also said Mendoza-Acoltzi was seen moving between the property and a nearby sidewalk, where he allegedly arranged landscaping rocks to spell out an anti-ICE message.
If convicted on the federal charges, Mendoza-Acoltzi could face between five and 20 years in prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000 and supervised release.
The warehouse at the center of the case has become a flashpoint in an ongoing dispute over the federal government’s plan to convert the 418,000-square-foot facility into an ICE detention center capable of housing up to 1,500 detainees.
The project has drawn opposition from local residents and state officials. Earlier this month, the city of Surprise asked the Department of Homeland Security to ensure the facility complies with local zoning requirements and state laws. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the project, arguing federal officials bypassed environmental review requirements and selected an inappropriate industrial location.
Despite the criticism, Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor has said the city lacks the legal authority to stop the detention center after DHS purchased the property earlier this year.
