Rape suspects previously accused in similar case

Two Santa Rosa brothers charged Tuesday with kidnapping and rape were prosecuted for a similar attack five years ago in Santa Rosa.

Rogelio Carlos-Zaragoza, 24, and Leonel Carlos-Zaragoza, 35, face potential life sentences if convicted of the charges filed against them Tuesday afternoon in Sonoma County Court.

The brothers were arrested early Friday morning after CHP officers stopped their car speeding on Highway 101. Following a brief pursuit, officers found a woman in the car who told them she’d been kidnapped at knifepoint and sexually assaulted by the two.

They are being held in jail without bail.

Friday’s arrest bears similarities to a case in which the brothers were arrested in October 2003.

In that case, the pair and a third man were prosecuted for rape and gang-rape charges in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman they picked up on Santa Rosa Avenue. Law enforcement officers arrested the brothers when their pickup was stopped following a brief chase in Bennett Valley. The woman was found in a separate car with other suspects.

Rogelio Carlos-Zaragoza, who was 17 at the time, and Leonel Carlos-Zaragoza were both held over for trial on rape and gang-rape charges after a preliminary hearing, but eventually agreed to a plea deal to one misdemeanor count of soliciting a prostitute. The two more serious charges were dropped.

They were both sentenced to two years of informal probation, ordered not to engage in prostitution activities and to stay off Santa Rosa Avenue, according to court records.

At the time, the elder Zaragoza was described by authorities as a Mexican national who was a vineyard worker.

The woman in Friday’s case, an 18-year-old, she was walking near Dutton Avenue when she was abducted at knifepoint by two men, forced into the car and sexually assaulted. There was no indication she was involved in prostitution, Sonoma County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Spallino said.

A neighbor reported hearing a woman scream, but responding officers found nothing unusual when they arrived. CHP officers coincidentally stopped the speeding car the Zaragozas several miles to the north, Spallino said.

“They have a penchant for running into police,” he said of the brothers. “It is similar behavior on their part.”

In court Tuesday, prosecutor Tania Partida filed a criminal complaint that alleges each defendant committed kidnapping with the intent to sexually assault the woman, forcible rape, rape in concert with another person and assault with a deadly weapon.

The kidnapping with intent to rape charge carries a life prison term. Three enhancements, in connection with the use of a knife and the rape charges, could add decades to any sentence ordered by a judge.

“We have a very strong case,” Spallino said. “I am optimistic they will be put away for a long time.” Chief Deputy District Attorney Joan Risse said she didn’t think the prior case could be used against the brothers at a trial in the current case. Although two of the original 2003 charges – rape and gang rape – were the same as what was filed Tuesday, those counts were dismissed.

Leonel Carlos-Zaragoza also faces three allegations of violating probation on drunken driving convictions. He has a criminal history of seven misdemeanor convictions in Sonoma County since 2002 and had a theft case pending when he was arrested Friday.

In addition to the 2003 conviction, Rogelio Carlos-Zaragoza was convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge in 2005 for which he was sentenced to one year of informal probation.

They are to appear in court Aug. 5 to enter pleas to the new charges.