Modesto man arrested in Riverside County homicide, attempted murder of couple
A 36-year-old Modesto man has been arrested in Southern California on suspicion of killing a 70-year-old man and critically injuring the victim’s wife during a home invasion in Murrieta early Wednesday morning, police said.
Officers were dispatched about 8:18 a.m. Nov. 5 to a home after a woman called 911 to report that an unknown man had broken in and attacked her and her husband. According to the Murrieta Police Department, the caller said she had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver and her husband had been stabbed with a knife.
When officers arrived, they found the 70-year-old man dead inside the residence. His wife was taken to a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived. Within the hour, a coordinated search of the neighborhood led investigators to a man matching the suspect’s description in a ravine behind a nearby home.
The suspect refused to comply with officers’ commands and hid in bushes, police said. After several minutes of attempts to gain compliance, a police K-9 was deployed and the man was apprehended.
Authorities identified the suspect as Manual Arturo Alvarez, 36, of Modesto. He was treated for injuries from the K-9 apprehension and later booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center.
Alvarez faces charges of homicide and attempted homicide.
