Bakery owner charged in riot

The owner of a bakery in Pasadena was arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the third Houston-area man to face federal charges after the attack.

Wilmar Jeovanny Montano Alvarado, a 37-year-old Salvadoran native and Houston resident, called the FBI on Jan. 14 to voluntarily identify himself as one of the people featured on an FBI flyer with photos of people suspected in the violent Capitol attack, according to court documents. He told the federal officials he did not go inside the Capitol building and did not assault any officers.

Investigators reviewed a YouTube video of footage from the riot that they believe showed evidence “contrary” to Alvarado’s voluntary statements, according to the criminal complaint. The Houston man “participated in efforts by rioters to violently battle their way through a line of police officers guarding the West Terrace entrance to the Capitol Building,” the complaint alleges.

In the video, Alvarado turns and pushes toward the police line with his arm extended and his hand on a police officer’s shield at one point, officials said. The footage shows that Alvarado appears to get struck in the back of the head by an object from the mob and then “easily” makes his way out of the crowd.

Two days after the riot and before boarding his flight back to Houston, Alvarado described his experience in a Zoom interview with a Fox26 Houston reporter. He said he went to the Capitol to protest because he believed the Nov. 3 election was fraudulent, according to the interview, but that he did not enter the building.

The police presence was “almost nonexistent,” Alvarado told Fox26, describing how he walked onto the Capitol grounds after people moved barriers aside.

“I turned around, trying to get out, and it was really impossible because people kept pushing me in,” he told the reporter. “I found myself really close to the cops. I was with my hands up and I told

them, ‘I’m not part of this. I’m trying to get out.’”

Alvarado, who owns Betty’s Bakery and Restaurant, is charged with violent entry or disorderly conduct; entering a restricted building or grounds; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees; and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to the criminal complaint. A warrant for his arrest was signed Jan. 26.

Alvarado appeared Friday afternoon in a courtroom in Houston before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy and was released on unsecured bail. The judge ordered him to surrender his passports and weapons to federal officials. Under the conditions of his release, Alvarado must report to a probation officer for regular check-ins, submit to drug and alcohol testing, wear a GPS ankle monitor, follow a curfew and restrict travel while he awaits further court proceedings in Washington, D.C.

He could face up to 55 years of imprisonment if convicted on all five charges and if prosecutors prove he caused significant bodily injury during the commission of the crimes, said Carolyn Ferko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Two other Houston-area men have been charged for their participation in breaching Capitol grounds. They are Tam Pham, a Houston police officer who has since resigned, and Joshua R. Lollar, a 39-year-old disabled veteran from Spring.