Inset: Jalen Vallejos (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Vallejos after deputies apprehended him for allegedly planning to break into his ex-girlfriend’s home to observe her as she slept (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office).
Florida deputies have taken a 20-year-old man into custody, who is alleged to have confessed to intending to go to his ex-girlfriend’s residence to watch her sleep through her bedroom window.
Jalen Vallejos is facing charges of aggravated stalking, attempted armed burglary, loitering or prowling, possession of burglary tools, and criminal mischief.
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The investigation began around 11:30 p.m. Sunday when a deputy with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office patrolling a Deltona neighborhood spotted Vallejos, who tried to cover his face. Vallejos also had a ski mask atop his head and layered clothing despite the temperature being a balmy 76 degrees, a probable cause arrest affidavit said.
“It gets kind of cold out,” Vallejos said when the deputy confronted him about his outfit, body camera footage showed.
Vallejos also had a knife clipped to his belt, burglary tools in his pocket and had weeds on his clothing, suggesting he had walked through some vegetation, deputies wrote.
“Just be honest with me, man, because at this point you’re caught,” the deputy said. “Because the more honest you are the more you can do to benefit yourself.”
After initially saying he was “just taking a walk,” the suspect admitted he was going to his ex-girlfriend’s home to watch her sleep, according to cops. He allegedly said he has been doing so ever since they broke up, some six months prior to the incident. Additionally, he allegedly had a sledgehammer in the truck he had driven to the area.
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Vallejos insisted he was not planning on hurting anyone but had the items for self-defense, although he believed his actions over the past few months were “escalating,” cops said.
“I’m afraid,” Vallejos said.
After receiving his Miranda warnings, the alleged stalker reportedly said he had duct tape and wire cutters he planned to use on cameras and the home surveillance system, along with black spray paint he previously used to vandalize the garage, per cops. He said he had the burglary tools to break the lock on the gate of her home.
Deputies spoke with the ex-girlfriend and her father. She said they had broken up and she no longer wanted to have contact with him. Vallejos continued to call her and show up to her home uninvited, she alleged. She and her father confirmed someone had spray painted their garage in April.
When cops told her and her father that Vallejos was captured with a knife, sledgehammer and burglary tools, they said they were “in fear for their lives.”
Cops arrested Vallejos and transported him to the Volusia County Jail where he remains without bond. He was assigned a public defender.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he believes that Vallejos had something even more sinister than just watching his ex-girlfriend.
“I mean, that’s got all the signs to me that somebody’s getting killed,” he said.
