- An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman called 32-year-old Alejandro Alvarez-Villegas a 'serial immigration violator'
- Alvarez-Villegas was arrested on Thursday in a stolen vehicle in Chula Vista after allegedly attacking his wife with a chainsaw
- Police said they discovered a woman suffering from 'traumatic physical injuries' and rushed her to a local trauma center where she underwent surgery
- Police believe the gruesome attack was carried out in front of the couple's three young boys
By
Associated Press and
Daniel Roth For Dailymail.com
Published: 20:19 EDT, 14 July 2018 | Updated: 12:12 EDT, 15 July 2018
Police arrested Alejandro Alvarez, 32, on Thursday after allegedly attacking his wife with a chainsaw
A man accused of attacking his wife with a chain saw in front of their children at their Los Angeles-area home had been deported from the U.S. 11 times.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley says 32-year-old Alejandro Alvarez-Villegas is a 'serial immigration violator.'
Alvarez-Villegas was arrested on Thursday in a stolen vehicle in Chula Vista, a few miles from the Mexican border.
Police said Alvarez-Villegas is suspected of attacking his wife at their Whittier home, leaving her covered in blood.
Police believe the gruesome attack was carried out in front of the couple's three young boys.
An LAPD spokesperson said that the woman was taken to a local trauma center and rushed into surgery.
'She's currently recovering and expected to survive,' said Officer John Scoggins.
It was not immediately clear if Alvarez-Villegas had an attorney to comment on the allegations.
On Wednesday, Whittier police responded to an attempted murder report stemming from a domestic violence incident.
Police said they discovered Gloria Mojica (L) suffering from 'traumatic physical injuries' and rushed her to a local trauma center where she underwent surgery
Witnesses heard the wife screaming for help and saw the family covered in blood outside their Whittier, California, home Wednesday
Officers said that upon arriving to the scene of the incident, they discovered Gloria Mojica suffering from 'traumatic physical injuries, believed to have been inflicted by a chain saw.'
Witnesses say they heard screams coming from the home and saw Alvarez-Villegas and his three sons, between the ages of five and 10, covered in blood.
'They just kept screaming and then I heard what sounded like a chainsaw,' one witness, Darian Pickle, said.
'She was going outside and I saw kids with blood and everything,' said witness Enrique Avila.
Another witness, Raquel Sanchez, said Alvarez-Villegas looked 'like he was showered in blood.'
Alvarez is suspected of attacking his wife with a chainsaw in front of their three sons, who are between the ages of five and 10
According to court records, Alvarez-Villegas got into a vehicle and fled the scene before police arrived, but crashed into another car 10 minutes later in Santa Fe Springs.
The father-of-three then fled on foot and eventually ended up stealing a blue 2002 Mercury Mountaineer SUV.
Haley says federal immigration officials have lodged a detainer against Alvarez-Villegas, asking local officials to notify them before he is released.
Alvarez-Villegas has been in and out of the U.S. since 2005.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, if an undocumented immigrant who has been previously deported commits a felony on American soil, that individual can face up to 20 years in prison.
According to
The Los Angeles Times, Alvarez-Villegas was arrested in 2013 and pleaded no contest to one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and one count of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Later that year, he was arrested again for driving under the influence and pleaded no contest to the charges.
