After McAllen hammer attack, family turns in suspect

McALLEN — An anonymous tip led police to a Donna man suspected of beating a housekeeper with a hammer during a home invasion last week.

Albert Lee Aleman, 19, is set to be arraigned today on a charge of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony. Police say he planned to take money from the house.

Aleman allegedly posed as a maintenance worker and broke into a home on the 1300 block of West Fullerton Avenue shortly before noon on April Fool’s Day.

Investigators believe he encountered a 27-year-old housekeeper at the door and tried to pull her from the house. Aleman allegedly struck her in the head several times with a hammer.

The homeowners initially suspected the attack may have been a kidnap-for-ransom plot, but police said Wednesday they suspect robbery was the motive. No valuables were stolen from the house.

Video surveillance footage of the attack shows the man abruptly leaving the property as he answers a phone call.

Images of the attacker were splayed across local news media, and McAllen police received an anonymous tip through their Crime Stoppers program that led them to Aleman, said Sgt. Joel Morales, a McAllen police spokesman.

“Somebody can look at that image and say, ‘I know that person,’” Morales said. “In this case the tip came in and it led to that person.”

The 19-year-old’s mother turned him in at the McAllen Police Department on Tuesday.

Outside her home Wednesday afternoon, she said she never saw the local media reports about the home invasion. She said her son had been “hanging around with the wrong people.”

The homeowners targeted in the crime said police told them Aleman was a bouncer at Sinsations bar in Weslaco. They said the man had shaved off his beard and head hair in an attempt to conceal his identity.

Phone calls made to Sinsations’ listed phone number were unanswered Wednesday.

Police are still trying to determine whether anyone else was involved in the crime, said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

After April 1 attack, emergency crews rushed the victim to an area hospital. She was later released.

Burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.

Aleman, a graduate of Donna High School, had filed paperwork to enlist in the U.S. Army when he was younger. Fearing for her son’s safety, his mother said she refused to sign the paperwork.

“If I would have signed it, none of this would have happened,” she said.

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Monitor staff writer Ana Ley contributed to this report.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.