Feb 24, 2007 12:42 am US/Pacific
Peninsula Rape Suspect Linked To South SF Attacks
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
A man arrested for attempting to rape a woman on Feb. 8 at her South San Francisco business may face two new charges of rape stemming from investigation into unsolved attacks from last year, a San Mateo County prosecutor said Friday.
Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, said South San Francisco police detectives recently discovered DNA and other physical evidence that implicates the suspect, Raul Gutierrez Contreras, 28, in separate attacks on two women.
According to Wagstaffe, the evidence ties Contreras to a rape in February 2006 at a Colma Bay Area Rapid Transit station, and another rape in South San Francisco in November 2006.
Wagstaffe hopes to file two new cases against Contreras and says that because there are multiple rape victims, Contreras is potentially eligible for a life sentence. Wagstaffe says that with the new evidence Contreras could face additional felony counts of rape, sodomy, forcible oral copulation, false imprisonment and assault intending to inflict great bodily injury.
The court-appointed defense attorney for Contreras has asked to review Wagstaffe's motion and Contreras will return to court March 15 at 1:30 p.m., Wagstaffe said.
At a news conference Feb. 12, South San Francisco police announced the arrest of Contreras on suspicion of attempting to rape a woman at a South San Francisco business Feb. 8.
In the early morning of Feb. 8, the woman was attacked inside her business on South Maple Avenue, according to police. She resisted and during a struggle, struck her attacker with a metal object, cutting him above the eye, police reported. After she called 911, the man fled.
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