Photo: Joseph Rivera
Originally published as a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department Nixle post –
“Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested Alexander Valenzuela (40, Modesto) in connection with the Monday (11/30) homicide of 46-year old Modesto resident Joseph Rivera. Valenzuela was arrested just before 1:00 PM Wednesday at his home in the 100 block of Angle Lane in Modesto.
Sheriff’s officials learned that Valenzuela had been released early from prison because of the state accelerated release program due to COVID-19. On May 29, 2019, Valenzuela was sentenced to 32-months in state prison for being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. Valenzuela was granted early release by CDCR on July 27, 2020 prior to completing his 32-month sentence.
“As a law enforcement official tasked with keeping our citizen’s safe, this makes me angry,” said Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse.”
“Valenzuela was not scheduled to be released until December 13, 2020. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that this murder would have been prevented if he would have served his full sentence and not been released early due to COVID-19.”
This was not the first time that Valenzuela has been arrested since his early release. On August 7, 2020, he was arrested for delaying/obstructing an officer. His booking charge of 148(a)(1) PC is a zero-bail charge so the Sheriff’s Office was forced to release him from custody due to zero bail.
“This system is failing our citizens,” said Dirkse. “Criminals should be behind bars, not released back into the public early. Many of these early release and zero-bail inmates are repeat offenders who continue to victimize law abiding citizens.”
The investigation into this homicide is ongoing. If anyone has information regarding this case, they are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers or Detective Sulkowski at (209) 525-7032.”
