A 25-year-old farm worker sits in jail on $3 million bail. Police say he attacked someone he lives with. They say he also made threats to scare that person.

El Centro Police arrested Gerardo Hidalgo on July 29. They caught him along North Imperial Avenue. Jail records show he was booked at 1:31 p.m. He faces three felony charges. One is attempted murder. One is making threats to scare someone. One is hurting a spouse or partner. Each charge carries $1 million bail. That is $3 million in total.

This arrest was one of six that Imperial Valley police made that same day. The busy day ran from El Centro to Calexico to Brawley. It shows how much work local cops do in one shift. It also shows how hard courts are cracking down on domestic violence. A $3 million bail for a domestic case sends a strong message.

El Centro police made a second arrest that day. They picked up Christopher Paul Gomez, 33. He would not leave a property on South Dogwood Avenue. Cops booked him at 4:19 p.m. He faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge. His bail is $2,500.

In Calexico, police arrested Michael Lee Lillyblad, 48. The arrest happened on Rockwood Avenue. Cops booked him around 2:39 p.m. He faces a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure. His bail is $5,000.

Brawley police made two arrests. First, they arrested Frankie Angel Sigala, 44. He works as a caretaker. Cops picked him up on D Street. He was booked at 8:33 p.m. He faces a charge of sexual battery by restraint. His bail is $25,000.

Brawley police also arrested Gilbert Gaspar Martinez, 34. They caught him on Imperial Avenue. He faces three charges. They are spousal battery, hurting an elderly person, and fighting arrest. He was booked at 11:18 p.m. His total bail is $75,000. That is $25,000 for each charge.

In the city of Imperial, deputies arrested Carlos Armando Estrada, 35. They picked him up on Aten Road. He had an open felony warrant. Deputies booked him at 11:01 p.m. His bail is $25,000.

Cases like Hidalgo's often start behind closed doors. Neighbors may not know anything happened. Then police cars show up, and everyone finds out at once. High bail can help keep a victim safe while the case moves through court. Imperial County has a lot of farm towns and border towns close together. Its courts see cases like this every month.

Hidalgo is still in the Imperial County Jail. No court date is public yet. It is not clear if he has a lawyer. Every person charged with a crime is innocent until a court says otherwise.

The other five people named here are also still in the legal process. Some face only a misdemeanor tied to one bad choice on one day. Others, like Martinez and Sigala, face felony charges. Those charges could mean years in state prison if they are convicted.

In most felony cases like this, a judge holds an arraignment first. That is when the accused person hears the charges out loud in court. The judge can also lower or raise bail at that hearing. After that, the case can move to a preliminary hearing. There, a judge decides if there is enough proof to go to trial.

Imperial County sits on the U.S. border with Mexico, next to the towns of Calexico and Mexicali. Many people there work in the fields that grow lettuce, onions, and other crops. Police in these small towns still answer calls like this one every day and night.

El Tejano will follow the Hidalgo case as it moves through court. One violent night at home turned into a $3 million bail. It shows how one small border town handled its hardest cases in a single day.