A hoax phone call claiming that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were on their way to a Goodyear warehouse touched off a chaotic scene last Friday, with workers crowding around a shut glass door and shoving to get out while a man allegedly blocked their exit. Goodyear police responded to the disturbance at the Quetico Logistics facility around 11:20 a.m. on August 14, and by the time officers arrived, the employees involved had already left the scene.
The warehouse, located near 143rd Avenue and Yuma Road, houses a retail distribution operation run by Quetico Logistics, which describes itself as a full-service retail distribution company. According to the Phoenix New Times, which first reported the incident, video captured workers crowded around a closed glass door as a white bald man blocked their exit while a woman could be heard yelling, “We will file charges,” followed by another voice shouting, “Let them go.”
Goodyear police later learned that the disturbance began after a caller, using an unknown or blocked phone number, claimed ICE was on its way to the facility, per the New Times report. Goodyear Police Department spokesperson Mayra Reeson confirmed the incident in an email and said there is no evidence the call was valid, calling it a hoax. Reeson said she was unaware of any other hoax calls of this kind in Goodyear.
Conflicting Accounts of What Happened at the Door
The footage, along with claims that the company had called ICE on its own workers, spread quickly online after the volunteer group People First Project posted the incident footage. Those early posts included inaccurate claims that the business had summoned ICE itself, an assertion the report does not support. Internet sleuths have since identified two people in Quetico Logistics management as possible matches for the individuals filmed blocking the door and yelling at workers, though the New Times report notes those identifications remain unconfirmed.
Reeson said police could not verify claims that the company prevented workers from leaving until officers arrived, and she said investigators could not determine whether Quetico Logistics violated any laws. The outlet could not verify the identities or job roles of the employees involved, and neither Quetico Logistics nor ICE responded to requests for comment. Separately, Goodyear police also investigated a reported assault between two workers connected to the same disturbance.
Arizona law offers a lens for evaluating the workers' allegations even though no charges have been filed. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-1303, knowingly restraining another person without legal authority — including by blocking a physical exit — constitutes unlawful imprisonment, a Class 6 felony that can be reduced to a misdemeanor if the person is released unharmed before an arrest is made. Federal workplace safety rules add another layer: OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.36(d) requires that exit route doors remain unlocked from the inside at all times so workers can evacuate promptly in an emergency.
A Warehouse With a History of Emergency Evacuations
This is not the first time the Quetico Logistics warehouse has been the site of a chaotic evacuation. In April 2024, a hazardous materials emergency at the same facility sent 15 workers to the hospital and required another 30 to be medically evaluated after an overheated forklift battery filled the building with fumes, according to KTAR News. The Goodyear Fire Department handled that response and had to air out the building before workers could return.
Quetico opened the 719,520-square-foot facility on 39 acres following a $45 million investment announced in 2019, a project the City of Goodyear said would create roughly 300 local jobs and was drawn to the West Valley for its interstate and airport connectivity. The warehouse sits within a fast-growing industrial corridor that has also attracted Home Depot's 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center and Aldi's planned 569,000-square-foot regional hub, part of Goodyear's rise as a major logistics center for Metro Phoenix, as previously reported by Hoodline.
Volunteers Deploy Amid Region-Wide ICE Anxiety
Workers reportedly contacted the group People First Project as the incident was unfolding, and the organization sent two volunteers to the scene, according to the New Times report. Founded by activist Clarissa Vela, the group operates a volunteer network called Eyes on ICE with more than 14,000 registered participants across Arizona who track and document federal immigration enforcement activity, per the Arizona Republic. Workers at the warehouse wore red t-shirts reading “I ❤︎ my job!” as the confrontation played out on video.
The panic reflects a broader climate of anxiety among Valley logistics workers. People First Project has estimated that around two dozen federal immigration enforcement operations occur daily across the Phoenix metropolitan area, a volume that drives rapid volunteer deployments through automated alerts, per ABC15 Arizona. Hoodline has previously detailed the group's tracking network, which is designed to alert nearby communities within minutes of a reported sighting.
Tensions over ICE activity in the region have already drawn attention from state leaders. In August 2025, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs publicly condemned unannounced federal immigration operations near Phoenix-area schools and workplaces, warning that unverified enforcement activity creates widespread community fear, according to KTAR News. In this case, ICE did not have known federal agents in the area and did not respond to a request for comment on the Goodyear incident.
Open Questions Remain
Whoever placed the call did so anonymously, using an unknown or blocked number, and it remains unclear whether investigators can trace the source. Arizona law treats knowingly false reports to law enforcement as a serious matter: under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-2907.01, making a false or unfounded report to police is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and $2,500 in fines. Whether Goodyear police or workplace safety regulators pursue any citation against Quetico Logistics management over the alleged blocked exits, and whether the hoax caller can ever be identified, remain unresolved questions as the investigation continues.
