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Man Arrested After Kids Give Bus Driver Note From Mom Revealing Abuse
Erik Alvarado was arrested after his girlfriend, whom he’s accused of abusing, was able to give her children a note to give to their bus driver asking for help.
A New Mexico man was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting his partner after she was able to ask for help by having her children secretly pass a note to their bus driver, police said.
Erik Alvarado, 40, was arrested Friday morning after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend the previous night, the Las Cruces Police Department said in a recent news release. He was charged with two third-degree felony counts of aggravated battery against a household member for suffocation and another count of aggravated battery for strangulation, in addition to misdemeanor charges of battery against a household member and deprivation of property.
Police say that the night before his arrest, Alvarado began assaulting his girlfriend at around 8 p.m. and that the abuse continued through the night, with Alvarado allegedly hitting and choking her. He also allegedly threatened to kill her and tried to suffocate her twice, using a shirt and a pillow. Some of the abuse reportedly took place in front of the couple’s two school-age children and their toddler, according to the police statement.
Alvarado allegedly took the woman’s phone away at some point in the night so that she was unable to contact anyone for help, But she was able to get around this by writing a note and giving it to her school-age children to pass on to the bus driver that morning, police said. The note said that she was in danger and to call 911 to have the police come to her house.
Her plan worked. The bus driver called emergency services and police responded to the home at around 8 a.m. on Friday morning, where they found the woman with bruises and other injuries that were “consistent with her claims,” according to the report.
Police were able to locate Alvarado later that day and arrest him. He was booked at the Dona Ana County Detention Center, where he remains in custody without bond, online jail records show.
