SANTA ANA – FBI officials confirmed Tuesday they are investigating whether there were civil rights violations tied to the arrest of a man who was caught on camera being struck by officers and who later was taken into custody by immigration officials on his way to a court hearing.

The confirmation of an FBI investigation came a day after prosecutors citing a lack of evidence agreed to drop several criminal charges that Edgar Vargas Arzate had been facing.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller confirmed the investigation in a statement released Tuesday morning but declined to comment further. The scope of the investigation was not clear.

“We’re happy because he’s home, and the justice system has gotten involved,” said Olivia Arzate, Vargas’ mother.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, Vargas, 27, no longer is facing a felony charge of battery on a peace officer and two misdemeanor charges of tampering with a vehicle and resisting a peace officer, as well as a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily harm.

“We went to court Monday, they took off the restraints from his hands and feet and he walked out with open arms,” Arzate said.

Vargas still is facing a felony count of attempted burglary, to which he pleaded not guilty in June. He is currently out on bail.

“We felt we couldn’t prove the other counts beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Santa Ana police officials previously confirmed they are conducting an internal investigation into the use of force by the officers who took Vargas into custody during his June 20 arrest.

The confrontation between police and Vargas began when officers were called to a Santa Ana neighborhood on a burglary call, a response that turned into a foot pursuit when they received multiple reports of a man running through backyards. One resident later said that the man had tried to open a locked window to her home and seemed to be trying to hide. The resident also indicated that the man appeared to be high on drugs.

A video that became public weeks after Vargas’ arrest captured what happened when officers caught up to him near the 400 block of Sycamore Street.

In footage from a security camera on a nearby home, Vargas is shown raising his hands in the air as an officer signals him to get on the ground. One officer appears to put a knee on Vargas’ back before delivering six punches. Three other officers are shown holding Vargas and struggling with him, while another officer hits Vargas’ legs with a baton.

A woman who lives at the home where the security footage was recorded later indicated that Vargas was yelling, “Help me.”

Controversy over the case escalated on Aug. 18 when Vargas, an undocumented native of Mexico, was stopped and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers while on his way to a court hearing.

Supporters of Vargas speculated that police had tipped off federal immigration officials prior to their taking him into custody, a claim both police and ICE officials have repeatedly denied.

Days after he was taken into federal custody, more than 50 people joined Vargas’ family in a vigil and march from the Santa Ana Police Department to the nearby ICE facility.

ICE officials said they targeted Vargas for arrest based solely on his criminal background, which includes two prior deportations and several felony convictions. They claimed they hadn’t been aware of his involvement in a “high-profile” investigation before taking him into custody. They say his past run-ins with the law made him a priority target for potential deportation.

In a letter to the FBI sent Aug. 28, Vargas’ attorney, Senior Deputy Public Defender Frank Bittar, requested an investigation be conducted into the actions of the Santa Ana Police Department and ICE.

In the letter, Bittar claimed that police brutality and excessive force occurred during Vargas’ arrest, that the officers falsified their reports about the incident to indicate that Vargas was resisting arrest and described Vargas’ arrest by ICE officers as an obstruction of justice that prevented him from attending a court-ordered hearing.

“Local law enforcement cannot be trusted to investigate this matter,” Bittar wrote.

Both Santa Ana Police Department and ICE officials declined to comment on the civil rights investigation.

ICE officials confirmed that Vargas is no longer in their custody, having been turned over to the supervision of the U.S. Marshals Service. In the meantime, family members say he may apply for a U Visa, which are granted to victims or witnesses of crimes.

Arzate said the family and their supporters “just want justice to be done,” and for the officers to be punished.

“It would have been more difficult if we didn’t have a video, but thank God there’s a video and so many witnesses,” She said.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com