Citing excessive force and constitutional violations, a man is suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and numerous agents for allegedly beating him unconscious and fracturing his skull earlier this year outside his Louisville home.

Mario Portales-Castro's lawsuit, filed Dec. 6 in U.S. District Court, says he was trying to leave for work on Aug. 20 when Louisville ICE agents approached him outside his home and told him to get out of his truck while their guns were drawn.

Portales-Castro, 45, got out with his hands in the air, but the ICE agents — who the suit claims had not yet identified themselves — "immediately started punching him repeatedly in the head."

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Once on the ground, the agents began kicking Portales-Castro in the head, fracturing his skull and causing him to become unconscious. It was when he was on the ground that they said they were with ICE, according to the lawsuit.

© Grayson County Detention Center Mario Portales-Castro claims in a federal lawsuit that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents beat him unconscious and fractured his skull while he was leaving his Louisville home to go to his job on Aug. 20, 2019. He remains held in the Grayson County Detention Center

Claims made in a lawsuit represent only one side of the case.

A spokesperson for ICE did not return a Courier Journal request for comment, but the agency typically does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit states that the ICE agents took Portales-Castro to the University of Louisville Hospital emergency room but told him he would not receive the necessary treatment and surgery for his fractured skull.

The agents also said they beat Portales-Castro because of his criminal record, according to the lawsuit.

But David Johnson, the Louisville attorney who is representing Portales-Castro, noted in the lawsuit that his client has no "criminal record of violence."

Federal court documents show Portales-Castro was indicted in September after he allegedly had illegally reentered the country after being deported in 2009 and in 2017.

"Nobody deserves to be beaten like that," Johnson said, claiming his client was denied due process. "Regardless of status, nobody should be beat up by a gang of law enforcement. That amounts to pretrial punishment, especially when the accused surrenders."

The September indictment also charges Portales-Castro with unlawful possession of a border crossing card after agents allegedly found he was possessing a visitor's visa on Aug. 20 that was under the name of his deceased brother.

While Portales-Castrol was charged with resisting arrest in the August case, Johnson said that isn't true and that ICE agents "fabricated inconsistent facts for their reports." He said the agents gave Portales-Castro a "gang beating."

Portales-Castro remains in jail in Grayson County, where he was transported after leaving University of Louisville Hospital, according to the lawsuit, which seeks damages and a jury trial.

Jesus Ibañez, with Occupy ICE Louisville, said Portales-Castro is from Mexico and has lived with his family in Louisville for many years.

Ibañez decried the way ICE agents treated Portales-Castro and said he has visited the man in the Grayson County Detention Center, adding that he "still hasn't received adequate medical treatment."

Johnson blamed a cumbersome bureaucratic process on the delay in Portales-Castro receiving his needed medical care.

"(He) is not a threat to anybody. His only violation was reentering the country illegally," Ibañez said. "He is an individual who contributes to society."

Billy Kobin contributed reporting.

Reach breaking news reporter Sarah Ladd at sladd@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ladd_sarah. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Lawsuit: Louisville ICE agents gave man a 'gang beating' until he was unconscious