MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The manager of a Venezuelan cuisine-themed eatery in Minneapolis reportedly shuttered the business early one evening after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sought to apprehend an employee who is potentially illegally present in the country. Speaking with a local news outlet about the matter, the manager shared how she helped conceal the person of interest from authorities via escorting them to their vehicle discreetly.
On December 3rd, ICE agents reportedly made an attempt to apprehend a wanted individual allegedly working at the Minneapolis-based eatery Hola Arepa. However, agents were confronted by staff at the restaurant, with general manager Naomi Rathke boasting to a local NBC outlet how she demanded a judicial warrant from the agents and assisted the wanted individual with leaving the property undetected.
Speaking with KARE11, Rathke recounted the interaction with the agents who entered the lobby of the restaurant and presented a photo to her regarding a person of interest ostensibly sought for apprehension.
“[They] whipped a badge really quickly and then flashed a photo of someone on their phone, and then they said, ‘We're looking for this person.’ I said, ‘This person doesn’t work here.’ They had said, ‘Well, we see her in the back right now.’ And I said, ‘That person is not here.’”
Rathke then refused to allow the agents access to the kitchen area of the establishment, telling the agents they needed a judicial warrant to enter employee-only areas. The general manager of the establishment claimed to the local news outlet the agents asserted they “don’t need a warrant,” to which she recounted her reiteration of them needing one.
The agents reportedly left the establishment without making any arrests, with the eatery closing early for the evening and management escorting all employees, including the one seemingly observed by agents that the restaurant denied was the person depicted in the photo shown by authorities, to their vehicles while ensuring authorities were no longer in the immediate area.
While it is accurate that ICE, or any local or federal law enforcement agency, generally needs a warrant to gain access to private businesses’ employee-only areas, there are some notable exceptions to this general rule.
As previously highlighted in past reporting here at Law Enforcement Today, private businesses cannot prohibit law enforcement from carrying out arrests on their property or gaining access to employee-only areas in situations where hot pursuit, exigent circumstances, or what’s known as the “plain view doctrine” are in play.
On December 3rd, ICE agents reportedly made an attempt to apprehend a wanted individual allegedly working at the Minneapolis-based eatery Hola Arepa. However, agents were confronted by staff at the restaurant, with general manager Naomi Rathke boasting to a local NBC outlet how she demanded a judicial warrant from the agents and assisted the wanted individual with leaving the property undetected.
Speaking with KARE11, Rathke recounted the interaction with the agents who entered the lobby of the restaurant and presented a photo to her regarding a person of interest ostensibly sought for apprehension.
“[They] whipped a badge really quickly and then flashed a photo of someone on their phone, and then they said, ‘We're looking for this person.’ I said, ‘This person doesn’t work here.’ They had said, ‘Well, we see her in the back right now.’ And I said, ‘That person is not here.’”
Rathke then refused to allow the agents access to the kitchen area of the establishment, telling the agents they needed a judicial warrant to enter employee-only areas. The general manager of the establishment claimed to the local news outlet the agents asserted they “don’t need a warrant,” to which she recounted her reiteration of them needing one.
The agents reportedly left the establishment without making any arrests, with the eatery closing early for the evening and management escorting all employees, including the one seemingly observed by agents that the restaurant denied was the person depicted in the photo shown by authorities, to their vehicles while ensuring authorities were no longer in the immediate area.
While it is accurate that ICE, or any local or federal law enforcement agency, generally needs a warrant to gain access to private businesses’ employee-only areas, there are some notable exceptions to this general rule.
As previously highlighted in past reporting here at Law Enforcement Today, private businesses cannot prohibit law enforcement from carrying out arrests on their property or gaining access to employee-only areas in situations where hot pursuit, exigent circumstances, or what’s known as the “plain view doctrine” are in play.
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Comments
2025-12-07T14:13-0500 | Comment by: Robert
ICE should Return and ARREST her Butt! I'm frankly surprised that they haven't....