‘High as a kite’ illegal immigrant armed with bat, shank attempts daylight break-in of Kaysville, Utah home with mom, 3 kids inside: source

On Sept. 18, a man believed to be Cristopher Alexandro Villarreal-Valero, 26, wearing a hoodie and a black glove, armed with a bat as well as an apparent shank, was seen near the Taylor home in Kaysville, Utah, Taylor said.

Taylor had received a phone call from his daughter while on a trip. "Dad, I think I’m gonna die," she told him.

Post from Luke Taylor, father of the home in Kaysville, Utah.

"On Wednesday the 18th, While my 2 older kids were in my kitchen getting ready for school, my daughter noticed a man in a black hood carrying a baseball bat over his shoulder attempt to break into my house through the back door," Taylor said.

"He was wearing one black latex glove on his left hand and was making his way around the house to other doors. The kids immediately ran upstairs to tell Erin (who was with a sleeping [child] in our bed) that someone was trying to get into the house and without hesitation she locked the kids in the most secure room in the house, grabbed the gun, called 911 and ran downstairs."

"This man was high as a kite, out of his mind and my wife witnessed him get into our outside detached garage as she had police on the phone," the father added in the post. "The police arrived just as he was sneaking back out of the garage and told him to put his hands in the air. He was not cooperative. They finally arrested him at gun point after I had to listen over the phone (never felt more helpless in my life) as my wife sobbed in fear for her life and our kiddos lives."

Kaysville is a residential, suburban town with around 32,000 people and one of the safest places to live in Utah, per Property Club. Between the years of 2009 and 2022, only one murder has been reported in 2011. Police officers confirmed to Taylor that the suspect was Villarreal-Valero, 26, after he gave false information to police.

Taylor told TPM that the family spoke to officers on Saturday "who confirmed that the man lied about his identity at arrest, but they positively ID’d him via fingerprints and he was wanted and being searched for by ICE." Taylor added that the police were initially "unsure about what his previous criminal charges were but ICE had been looking for him for some time."

Erin Taylor, the mother who was home when the incident happened, told TPM in a statement, "The aftermath has been just as challenging as the actual event itself. I didn’t sleep for the first 3 days and still wake my husband up 2-3 times a night due [to] nightmares or fear of it happening again. Our kids, especially our daughter, have been traumatized. She dreads going to bed and is scared to go outside in our OWN yard."

"The details in these kinds of scenarios are important. This was a homeless, illegal immigrant who was under the influence of alcohol that arrived at my home with weapons with intent to do harm. Now my family has to work through the horrific fears of this event for months and years to come. This is a very serious problem in our country that literally hit our home directly," she added.

The incident was first reported by Utah commentator Eric Moutsos, who quoted Luke Taylor as saying, "If it can happen in Kaysville Utah, in broad daylight, it can happen anywhere."

Footage of the arrest of Villarreal-Valero showed officers holding him at gunpoint in order to take him into custody. When the officers searched the suspect’s person, they pulled out an apparent shank from his pocket, which had likely been a component of a sprinkler system. He also had a bat, and the family witnessed him going through their garage as he was allegedly attempting to break into the home.

When Villarreal-Valero was arrested, he asked police officers “if he was going to be deported," per KSL-TV. The outlet reported that Villarreal-Valero could "only [speak] Spanish, and was having a hard time following verbal commands" from police officers at the scene. The suspect reportedly claimed to officers he "thought the house was abandoned" and was only trying to get water. The suspect said the baseball bat was from the backyard and that he wanted it for self-defense.

"Both weapons he arrived at my house with and didn’t 'pick up here for self-defense' as he told officers," Taylor told TPM.

Taylor said police “found a couple garbage bags of clothes and alcohol in a shed on a property near us that was his. [The suspect] appeared to be homeless and was staying there for some unknown amount of time.”

Villarreal-Valero has been charged with burglary, criminal trespassing, theft, and providing officers with false information. Police documents said that the suspect claimed his name was "Victor Clemente.”

The Kaysville police department has been reached for comment.