Man guilty in kidnap, two 2006 rapes

<p>Sonoma County jurors convicted a 25-year-old Santa Rosa man Tuesday of kidnapping an 18-year-old woman and speeding down Highway 101 as his brother allegedly raped her in the back seat.</p><p>Jurors also found Rogelio Carlos-Zaragoza guilty of two rapes from 2006 in which he was identified through DNA evidence.</p><p>He faces the possibility of more than 50 years to life in prison at his sentencing Sept. 29.</p><p>The trial began earlier this month. All three victims testified.</p><p>Witnesses in the most recent case said he and his brother, Leonel Carlos-Zaragoza, 36, were driving on Dutton Avenue on July 24, 2009, when they confronted a woman walking down the street and forced her into their car at knifepoint.</p><p>The younger brother drove onto the freeway while the older man allegedly began raping her, prosecutors said.</p><p>Within moments, a California Highway Patrol officer signaled them to pull over, sparking a car chase that reached speeds up to 100 mph.</p><p>The men left the freeway at Mark West Springs Road and fled on foot but were captured. The victim identified Rogelio Carlos-Zaragoza as the driver.</p><p>While the two men were in custody, a DNA sample connected the younger man to other rape cases. Jurors on Tuesday convicted him of two counts of forcible rape in concert and false imprisonment. They tossed out a single count of forcible rape connected to the 2009 assault.</p><p>A trial for Leonel Carlos-Zaragoza is expected later this summer. He is not charged in the 2006 rapes.</p><p>Both men were also charged in a 2003 rape but pleaded to lesser charges of soliciting a prostitute.</p><p>-- Paul Payne</p>