U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested Cesar Orlando Castro Serrano, a Salvadoran national wanted by Houston police for his alleged involvement in a violent attack against a 22-year-old woman in 2023. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Castro Serrano was charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated kidnapping after he allegedly beat the woman with a tire iron, sexually assaulted her, and left her in critical condition in a wooded area behind an apartment complex.
Castro Serrano had been evading law enforcement since March 2023. ICE apprehended him on November 10, 2025, in Katy, Texas. He was subsequently transferred to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and an arrest detainer was lodged to prevent his release back into the community.
“This barbaric criminal beat a 22-year-old Houston woman in the head with a tire iron and sexually assaulted her before leaving her to die in a wooded area behind an apartment complex in critical condition. This heinous predator should have never been in our country,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “After two years on the run, ICE law enforcement officers arrested this criminal illegal alien and turned him over to local authorities to face justice for his crimes. President Trump and Secretary Noem will not allow criminal illegal aliens to continue to victimize American citizens. If you come to our country illegally and victimize Americans, we will find you and arrest you. That’s a promise.”
Records indicate that Castro Serrano entered the United States illegally in 2015 during the Obama administration and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2016.
DHS emphasized its ongoing commitment to public safety and encouraged victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to seek assistance through its Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office.
