Police had no probable cause to search the vehicle of a Melrose Park man who prosecutors allege went to an Aurora school last year with plans to meet an 11-year-old girl he befriended on Facebook, according to a motion recently filed by Alonso Ayala’s attorney.
Ayala, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of grooming and traveling to meet a minor for the purpose of a sex offense in connection to the May 2016 incident. He remains free on $50,000 bail.
Ayala’s attorney is asking Kane County Judge John Barsanti to suppress evidence found inside Ayala’s Nissan Murano at the time of his arrest because investigators had no evidence a crime had been committed and no warrant to conduct a search.
Aurora police previously said their investigation began after a Waldo Middle School resource officer learned that a young student had exchanged several Facebook messages with Ayala and made plans to meet him. Police indicated that both Ayala and the girl each misrepresented their ages, with Ayala telling her that he was 17 years old. Over the course of two days of messaging, Ayala offered sexually suggestive comments. The girl rebuffed those advances yet agreed to meet with him.
The motion states that police arrested Ayala when he arrived in the parking lot at Dietrich Elementary School, but it does not indicate what investigators recovered during their search of the vehicle.
Barsanti set a Feb. 17 hearing on the evidence suppression request. Prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.