A man who ran into the water to help a 9-year-old girl who had been bitten by a shark in Florida may face deportation after being arrested and charged with driving without a licence days after the attack.
Luis Alvarez, 31, of Lehigh Acres in Lee County, Florida, about 140 miles northwest of Miami, was pulled over around 1:30 a.m. on June 14 after police say he was driving without headlights on.
He was driving a grey SUV with a Rhode Island license plate, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
According to the Fort Myers News-Press, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, court records show he is being held in jail by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on July 9.
USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for additional information.
Why was Alvarez arrested?
On the day of the arrest, around 1:30 a.m. local time, police say Alvarez was pulled over for driving without headlights.
When asked for his licence, Alvarez pulled up a photo of his Employment Authorisation Card from his phone. According to the arrest report, he told the officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two and a half years and had never held a driver’s license.
Alvarez was arrested for driving without a licence and given a warning for not using his headlights.
The arrest report stated that Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua. According to court records, he is being held in jail by ICE.
Alvarez previously arrested in different Florida county
According to court records, Alvarez has no previous arrests in Collier County. He was arrested four times in Lee County on similar charges of driving without a valid licence, beginning in December 2023. Lee County is located in southwest Florida, on the Gulf coast.
He paid fines or had adjudication denied by three judges. In the most recent case, on June 23, the judge issued a D6 suspension, which meant that Alvarez could not apply for a licence because he had not paid his fine.
Alvarez ran in to help girl attacked by shark
On June 11, Alvarez was on the beach and ran into the water to help Leah Lendel, 9, who had been bitten by a shark.
Lendel’s hand was nearly severed as a result of the attack, which occurred in the ocean a few feet from the beach in Boca Grande, Florida.
Lendel’s hand was nearly severed, but quick action on the scene and an airlift to Tampa General Hospital enabled surgeons to reattach it. She is recuperating.
Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark, according to her sister, Raynel Lugo, who also assisted with the rescue.
“He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah,” Lugo said in the Fox4 interview. “He dived deep underwater, not caring about the shark. He went very deep. He probably confronted a shark.”
Body camera footage from a Lee County Sheriff’s Office Deputy who responded to the call shows the three men standing next to the water while EMS treated Leah.
Alvarez, speaking through an interpreter, told first responders it looked like an eight-foot shark. Experts later speculated that it was a bull shark, one of the most aggressive sharks in Florida waters.
