How rogue Fresno cop terrorized business owners, lawsuits claim. ‘I want my name back’
Luis Rodriguez, owner of GrizzAlley Bike Shop in Fresno’s Tower District, was tending to his repair shop four years ago when a police detective stopped by and started asking about a stolen bike.
It was the beginning of a nightmare for the father of seven, he says.
The Fresno native says his shop was searched and money and equipment confiscated. Rodriguez asked to see a search warrant, but says he was ignored. After about two hours, he says he was arrested on multiple, made-up charges, including child endangerment and an accusation that he was making illegal guns.
Rodriguez was initially held in lieu of a $400,000 bond until it was reduced following several court appearances. He spent 10 days in jail.
The case against him was eventually dismissed by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for lack of evidence. But Rodriguez says his reputation has been ruined because the arrest and charges were reported by news media and shared on social media.
Rodriguez, who grew up near Roosevelt High, says the accusations have hampered his bicycle business. About 15 years ago, he gave up alcohol and made bicycles his full-time job, he said.
“They don’t post it in the news that I did beat the case, and it got dismissed with prejudice. They can’t come after me no more,” the 41-year-old told The Fresno Bee. “I want (my reputation) back. Because I like building bikes.”
At least two other Fresno business owners have made similar accusations in lawsuits against the ex-detective, Rey Medeles, and police officer, Gustavo Gutierrez, and other members of the Fresno Police Department.
The two are named in three pending civil lawsuits brought by Rodriguez and two other business owners that accuse them of stealing money and expensive property from their businesses through bogus searches, arrests and charges.
The Fresno Police Department declined requests for comment on this story. The city also declined request for comment, citing the pending litigation.
In his suit, Rodriguez claims Medeles and police unnecessarily raided his business, took about $5,000 in cash and several thousands worth in tools and equipment that he still hasn’t gotten back four years later. Rodriguez says police accused him of gun and drug charges for what they found in a room he rented out to someone else in the back of his shop.
It’s difficult for Rodriguez to talk about the arrest without getting emotional. He said he may end up with a cash settlement from the city, but it won’t make it all right.
“Money will get some inventory in here, but it ain’t gonna fix this, or my mind, or my kids pointing at the police saying, ‘Who is that? A bad guy?’ “ he said, holding back tears. “That’s not gonna come back.”
Medeles named in more lawsuits
All three of the civil cases were brought under Kevin Little, a Fresno civil rights attorney. They all detail accusations of thefts and bogus charges that were later dropped. Each case has a tentative jury trial set for later in 2026.
Chi Thanh Ngo says Medeles and the other officers took $10,000 from his business, Valley Hydroponics, on April 25, 2023. He criticized the officers, telling them he would file a lawsuit, before they carried out a retaliatory arrest, his lawsuit claims.
The business sells lights and other goods for hydroponics, or growing plants without soil. Hydroponics can be used to grow cannabis indoors.
Daniel Guzman Vela, owner of Valley Battery, made similar claims in his filing. His lawsuit claims Medeles and Gutierrez took $1,000 from his shop on June 1, 2023, as they accused him of illegally selling marijuana in his business that sells car batteries and accessories, his lawsuit claims.
The criminal cases against Ngo and Guzman Vela were dropped for lack of evidence, their lawsuits note.
Little said the three cases include accusations that the police used excessive charges in an attempt to get his clients to take plea deals rather than fight the charges. For example, police found ammunition at Ngo’s business and ended up charging him separately for each bullet they found, Little said, noting Ngo owned the ammo legally. As a result, his bail was initially set at $22 million, according to Little.
Medeles fired, accused of thefts from evidence locker
Medeles worked in the police department’s narcotics division until he was fired last June, according to police. He was on paid administrative leave at the time of his firing after the police department discovered he had taken about $60,000 in cash by signing it out of the evidence room, according to the Department of Justice.
He pleaded “not guilty” in an October arraignment on four charges, two counts each for grand theft and preparing false evidence, according to court records. His defense attorney declined to comment in November.
Medeles is accused of taking two separate sums of $30,000 and recording them as having been returned to suspects that originally had the money confiscated from them by police, according to the Department of Justice. Those alleged thefts from the evidence locker dated back to May 2024 and November 2023.
Fresno police requested that the FBI investigate to determine if theft was a greater issue among the ranks, Chief Mindy Casto said Oct. 9, after Medeles’ arrest. She said FBI investigators did not find further misconduct.
Little said he will be watching Medeles’s criminal case, adding it may be the “tip of the iceberg.” He noted the three civil cases were all filed in 2023 and 2024, long before the arrest of Medeles.
How it happened: Search and intimidation, lawsuits say
Rodriguez said Medeles and Gutierrez arrived at his Tower District business around 1 p.m., Oct. 15, 2021, and began asking him about a stolen bicycle. Rodriguez said he was arrested within about two hours.
There was no stolen bicycle found, Rodriguez says.
While police, including Medeles, searched his repair business they took about $5,000 in cash he had on hand to run the shop, according to Rodriguez. He claims police recorded it as half as much when entering it into evidence. They also took machinery he used for engraving and carving specialty pieces for bikes, accusing him of using the water jet machine to do something it isn’t capable of — printing guns.
He said what stings most were accusations of child endangerment. The father said no children were in his shop when the officers pushed their way in, adding he believed officers were retaliating because he demanded to see a warrant before telling them to leave.
Last June, Rodriguez saw Medeles’ arrest on news reports, but he says it provided him little solace.
“That sucks that I can’t be vindicated in the public’s eye, but they want to sweep me under the rug,” he told The Bee. “I don’t care about no money, you know. I want my name back. That means more than anything.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM.
