Family recalls encounter w/ deported offender who tried breaking into Port Hueneme home

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (KABC) -- A family recounts catching a previously deported man trying to break into their Port Hueneme home.

Magaly Barragan said she was terrified when she looked out the window facing her backyard and saw a man peering inside, trying to get into it. It happened just before 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said Guillermo Damaso, 39, was trying to break into the home. Magaly's sons called 911 and Port Hueneme police quickly found and arrested Damaso. They said he is a convicted sexual predator and an undocumented immigrant who had been deported from the U.S. multiple times.

"We did locate and determine that he was a two-time previously deported sex offender and had re-entered our country less than 24 hours ago. He was now immediately reoffending here in our small city of Port Hueneme, California," Chief Andrew Salinas said.

Authorities said Damaso has a warrant out for his arrest in Florida for indecent exposure and is on probation in California for weapons and narcotics violations.

Salinas said he expects one of three things to happen to Damaso: he could be formally deported and picked up by ICE, or he could be arraigned in Ventura County, or he could be extradited to Florida to face the indecent exposure charges.

Magaly and her family said they want Damaso deported and jailed in his home country.

"We don't need people like that. I mean we do need immigrants because this is an immigrant country," Eduardo Barragan said.

Magaly added that only a small percentage of people who come to the U.S. illegally commit crimes, but because of that small percentage, the vast majority of people looking for work and a better life get a bad name.

Salinas said while the issue of undocumented immigrants is a controversial subject, it's tough for police departments to devote resources for arresting undocumented people who come to the country intent on committing crime.

"When we have small cities like the city of Port Hueneme that is dealing with these individuals who are coming into our city and reoffending immediately and not becoming productive members of society, it really makes our jobs that much more difficult," Salinas said.

One big question was how Damaso got back into the country. Authorities said he paid smugglers to get him back in and within less than 24 hours of being back is when he tried to break into the Port Hueneme home.

Damaso was booked into Ventura County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.