FILE - Crime tape surrounds a damaged vehicle rented and used by U.S. Border Patrol, at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol shooting of two people at building three of Adventist Health on the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street in Portland on Jan. 8, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Portland police officers prevented U.S. Customs and Border Protection from removing evidence from the scene of a January shooting involving immigration enforcement agents that hospitalized two Venezuelan nationals, federal defense attorneys allege.
Those documents, filed Friday, describe body-worn camera footage from Jan. 8, when multiple immigration officers surrounded a red pickup truck being driven by Luis Niño-Moncada outside a medical clinic in Portland. During the traffic stop, Niño-Moncada repeatedly backed into an unoccupied rental car with the truck, totaling it, as a border patrol officer opened fire.
Attorneys for Niño-Moncada allege the bodycam footage shows local police “preventing a border patrol agent from interfering with the full preservation of physical evidence” after the shooting.
“The border patrol agent was attempting to remove an unfired rifle round from the scene,” the federal defense attorneys wrote in the Sept. 11 memo to the court.
Related: Man shot by border patrol in Portland pleads guilty to depredation of federal property
Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the filing.
Niño-Moncada was shot that day alongside his partner Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras. Zambrano-Contreras survived and is currently on probation. Niño-Moncada was detained. He was originally charged with a felony for assaulting a federal officer, but pleaded down to a single charge of depredation of federal property for damaging the rental car driven by border patrol officers.
Niño-Moncada is set to face sentencing next week. The Venezuelan national could be deported, if the judge agrees with the proposed sentence that includes the time he’s already served and a monetary fine.
The allegations of attempted evidence tampering are included as part of the sentencing memorandum filed by Niño-Moncada’s defense attorneys. As a result of his plea deal, the case will not go to trial. The sentencing memos filed Friday provide new details on the circumstances that led to the shooting and what transpired during the incident.
The Oregon Department of Justice confirmed to OPB Friday that their investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Niño-Moncada’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Benson, declined to comment on the filings.
At the time of the shooting, then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed Niño-Moncada would be “met with the full force of this Justice Department.” The Department of Homeland Security sought to connect Niño-Moncada to a Venezuelan criminal gang, Tren de Aragua.
Related: Defense attorney disputes police narrative in Portland Border Patrol shooting
Federal prosecutors noted in their sentencing memo Friday the immigration agents were targeting Zambrano-Contreras, who they suspected of working with Tren de Aragua. The six Border Patrol officers had not worked together as a team prior to the temporary assignment, and were briefed Jan. 7 about both individuals.
“The data provided to the officers stated that it was believed defendant was an ‘Associate-TDA Member/Possible shooter,’” according to federal prosecutors.
As part of their filing, Niño-Moncada’s attorneys included a description of an interview with Niño-Moncada’s brother, Jhonathan, who told them he “never believed his brother was part of a gang” and “he has never known him to be involved in illegal activities.”
This story may be updated.
