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- Man who helped Florida girl bitten by shark may be facing deportation</p>
<p>Charlie Whitehead and Julia Gomez, USA TODAY June 29, 2025 at 10:25 PM</p>
<p>A man who ran into the water to help a 9-year-old girl after she was bitten by a shark in Florida may be facing deportation after he was arrested and accused of driving without a license days after the attack.</p>
<p>Luis Alvarez, 31, of Lehigh Acres, in Lee County, Florida, around 140 miles northwest of Miami, was stopped about 1:30 a.m. on June 14 after police say he was driving without his headlights on.</p>
<p>He was driving a gray SUV with a Rhode Island tag, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report.</p>
<p>Court records indicate he is being held in jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to reporting from the Fort Myers News-Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. He is scheduled to go before a judge on July 9.</p>
<p>USA TODAY has reached out to ICE for more information.</p>
<p>Why was Alvarez arrested?</p>
<p>On the day of the arrest, at around 1:30 a.m. local time, police say Alvarez was driving a car without its headlights on when he was pulled over.</p>
<p>When asked for his license, Alvarez called up a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone. He told the arresting officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two-and-a-half years and had never had a driver's license, according to the arrest report.</p>
<p>Alvarez was arrested on a charge of driving without a license and was issued a warning for not having his headlights on.</p>
<p>The arrest report said Alvarez is from Boaco, Nicaragua. Court records indicate he is being held in jail by ICE.</p>
<p>Alvarez previously arrested in different Florida county</p>
<p>Court records indicate Alvarez has no arrest history in Collier County. He was arrested on similar charges of not having a valid driver's license four times in Lee County, dating back to December 2023. Lee County is located in southwest Florida along the Gulf Coast.</p>
<p>He paid fines or had adjudication withheld by three different judges. In the most recent case, the judge issued a D6 suspension on June 23, meaning since Alvarez had not paid his fine, he was unable to apply for a license.</p>
<p>Alvarez ran in to help girl attacked by shark</p>
<p>Alvarez was on the beach and ran into the water to help on June 11 when Leah Lendel, 9, was bitten by a shark.</p>
<p>Lendel's hand was nearly severed after the attack, which happened in the ocean a few feet off the beach in Boca Grande, Florida.</p>
<p>Leah Lendel is recovering from a shark bite at Tampa General Hospital. The 9-year-old nearly lost her hand in the June 11 attack but doctors were able to save it.</p>
<p>Lendel's hand was nearly severed, but fast action at the scene and an airlift to Tampa General Hospital allowed surgeons to reattach her hand. She is recovering.</p>
<p>Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark, her sister Raynel Lugo, who also helped during the rescue, said in an interview with Fox4 News.</p>
<p>"He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah," said Lugo in the Fox4 interview. "He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark."</p>
<p>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 as Leah was being treated by EMS.</p>
<p>Alvarez, through an interpreter, told first responders it looked like about an eight-foot shark. Experts later said it was possibly a bull shark, one of the more aggressive sharks in Florida waters.</p>
<p>Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected]</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man who helped girl during Florida shark attack could be deported</p>
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