Man Pleads Guilty, Attacking Girlfriend in La Quinta, Sentenced 3yrs Probation

INDIO (CNS) – A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday to attacking his girlfriend when he discovered another man at her La Quinta home and was immediately sentenced to three years of probation. Joseph Villareal pleaded guilty Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count each of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, according to court records. He additionally pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of battery on a spouse and one misdemeanor count each of dissuading a witness and petty theft. He was immediately sentenced to three years of formal probation. According to court papers, Villareal entered the woman’s home at 52575 Eisenhower Drive in La Quinta around 3 p.m. May 4, 2019, and grabbed her "around the throat after noticing she had another male in the house." Villareal then tried to stab the man with a pencil before fleeing the home with a purse and phone. The names of the victims were not included in court records. Villareal was arrested that day on the corner of Avenue 52 and Madison Street, according to jail records. Court records show the woman had filed for a restraining order against Villareal due to an alleged assault three days earlier. Villareal also has a felony conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, records show. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.