A twice-deported immigrant from Mexico has been federally charged with carjacking a restaurant employee in Orange County, allegedly assaulting the victim and a coworker who tried to help her, and nearly striking them with the stolen vehicle, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Prosecutors said in a federal affidavit that on the evening of Feb. 27, two restaurant employees were leaving work in Placentia. One victim, a woman who previously had a romantic relationship with Miguel Abrajan-Morales, was sitting in the driver’s seat of her 2025 Ford Bronco when he opened the front passenger door, got inside, and struck her in the face multiple times.
She escaped through the driver’s side, leaving the vehicle running.
Her coworker, who witnessed the assault, ran to the vehicle to defend her, and both men struck each other several times.
Afterward, Abrajan-Morales got into the driver’s seat and drove away, nearly hitting both victims and colliding with a parked Honda Civic.
Both victims, who had visible injuries, told law enforcement they believed he intentionally tried to strike them.
Abrajan-Moraless, 30, of Fullerton, was arrested in Ontario on March 1. He has been charged in federal court with carjacking, according to a court affidavit. He also faces a separate federal charge for being in the United States illegally after previously being deported.
Prosecutors said he had been deported twice, most recently in October 2016, and had no authorization from the Secretary of Homeland Security or the U.S. Attorney General to return.
If convicted, Abrajan-Morales faces up to 15 years in federal prison for the carjacking and up to two years for illegal reentry.
The carjacking is being investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Integrated Operations Group and Placentia Police Department, with support from the Ontario Police Department.
The Integrated Operations Group includes personnel from Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Marshals Service.
Homeland Security Investigations is leading the illegal reentry investigation.
Abrajan-Morales is in custody at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange on a state assault charge, prosecutors said. He is set to appear in federal court in Santa Ana on the federal allegations in the coming weeks.