The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida released a statement about a recent arrest involving alleged assault of law enforcement officers.
Jacksonville, Florida – Jennifer Susan Cruz (40, Jacksonville) has been charged by complaint with assaulting officers conducting an immigration operation. If convicted, Cruz faces a maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to the complaint, federal immigration officers, assisted by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), were conducting an operation in Jacksonville to locate and administratively arrest aliens who were illegally present in the United States. Cruz was driving by and was recording on her cell phone as an FHP Trooper was pulling over a vehicle for a traffic infraction. Cruz parked near the site of the traffic stop and was yelling at the Trooper as she continued to record. Immigration officers subsequently determined that the two occupants of the vehicle were aliens who were illegally present in the United States.
Another Trooper approached Cruz and talked with her about using her cell phone while driving. He asked for Cruz’s driver’s license, and she stated that she did not have it but that she had a photograph of it on her cell phone. During this interaction, Cruz was argumentative, standoffish, and continued recording. The Trooper advised Cruz that he had no issue with her recording and that his concern was solely her unsafe and unlawful use of a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. During the encounter, Cruz made unsolicited and inflammatory statements, asking whether the Trooper supported the “Nazis,” which she clarified as referring to ICE, and asking him not to shoot her in the face. The Trooper advised Cruz that ICE officers were present in an official capacity and that he was not there to discuss personal or political beliefs, but solely to address her traffic violation.
Cruz showed the Trooper a photograph of her driver’s license and the Trooper told Cruz to remain in her vehicle while he conducted further investigation. A records check revealed that Cruz’s license was suspended as of June 17, 2025. Because Cruz’s license was suspended, the Trooper requested a tow truck to impound Cruz’s vehicle, as she was not legally authorized to operate it. While the Trooper was waiting for the tow truck, Cruz drove away. Multiple Troopers immediately activated their emergency lights and sirens and maneuvered their patrol vehicles to box in Cruz’s vehicle, and they stopped it approximately 200 feet away from the traffic stop.
After the vehicle was stopped, the Trooper advised Cruz that the traffic stop had not been concluded, and that the vehicle was going to be towed because her license was suspended. He told her to exit the vehicle and surrender the keys so that the vehicle could be released to the tow company. Cruz exited the vehicle but immediately became verbally hostile, cursing at the officers, and repeatedly refusing to surrender the keys. In response to the Trooper’s directives, Cruz said that she was “ready to go” and, when asked, stated that she meant that she was ready to fight. When a Trooper attempted to retrieve the keys from Cruz, Cruz struck the Trooper in the face with a closed fist. Multiple officers then converged on Cruz to arrest her for the assault.
Cruz resisted arrest, including by attempting to strike and kick the officers. As Cruz continued to struggle with them, officers took her to an FHP patrol vehicle, during which she attempted to kick the Trooper whom she had punched. As officers were trying to place Cruz inside the vehicle, Cruz kicked at an ICE officer, a Customs and Border Protection agent, and a Trooper, and successfully struck the CBP agent and ICE officer, whose left hand was injured. Officers were eventually able to secure Cruz in the patrol vehicle, but she continued kicking at the vehicle’s windows, roof, and in-car camera.
While being transported in the patrol vehicle, Cruz stated that her actions were not worth the incident escalating “over a set of car keys.” Later, while awaiting further transportation, Cruz made a phone call in which she said that she messed up “really ugly” and that what she did was not okay. She subsequently told the Trooper who she had punched that she was sorry for hurting her, that she was not sure why she acted that way, and that she knew that the Trooper had a job to do.
A complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO), and the Florida Highway Patrol. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.
