Two students in Las Cruces, New Mexico, gave a school bus driver a note from their mother who was reportedly being abused by her partner, resulting in the man’s arrest.
A press release from the Las Cruces Police Department, located south of Albuquerque, provided details on the incident.
The mother wrote the note because her abusive partner, later identified as 40-year-old Erik Alvarado, had taken her phone to prevent her from contacting law enforcement. She gave the note to her two children and asked them to give it to their school bus driver on the morning of April 23, after being attacked by Alvarado the previous night.
The bus driver, who remains unidentified, reported the note to police around 8 a.m.
“The children did as they were asked, and the attentive bus driver called 911 to summon police to the home,” the Las Cruces Police Department stated. Police officers responded to the children’s home and found their mother with “multiple cuts, bruises and abrasions consistent with her claims of physical abuse.”
During their investigation, police said that during the physical altercation “Alvarado threatened to kill the woman.” They reported that the couple’s toddler and their two school-age children were present and witnessed much of the abuse.
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Alvarado is charged with three third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault, two for attempted suffocation of the victim and one for strangulation. He was arrested the same day the driver reported the incident and is currently being held without bond.
