Indio man accused in several rapes in the Coachella Valley arrested
An Indio man accused of several rapes in the Coachella Valley is now custody.
Daniel Delgadillo, 46, was arrested Monday night by the Palm Desert Police Special Enforcement Team Monday night in Whitewater near the Haugen-Lehmann off-ramp of Interstate 10.
Delgadillo is accused in two sexual assaults in 2006 and one in 2014.
According to an arrest warrant declaration, Delgadillo allegedly raped one woman then drove her up a mountainside where she leaped out of the moving car because she believed he was “taking her up the mountain to kill her.”
It is noted in the declaration that the woman initially got a ride from Delgadillo while waiting at a Palm Springs bus stop. He took her to a home that police believe is in either Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage, where he allegedly sexually assaulted, beat and choked her before kidnapping her.
Though a suspect description was provided to investigators, the house where the alleged assault occurred could not be located at the time, the declaration stated. The victim’s sexual assault kit wasn’t analyzed for more than a year after the alleged assault, but DNA results from March 2016 linked Delgadillo to the crime.
He was charged last week with 16 felonies, including rape, kidnapping, assault, and false imprisonment.
Delgadillo’s criminal history dates back to rape charges in 2006. He was accused of sexually assaulting two victims about five months apart, reportedly using a knife on one of them. Those charges were dismissed in 2008.
While authorities were investigating the 2014 rape, Delgadillo was found to be a suspect in four other sexual assaults across the Coachella Valley. Those cases were investigated by police in Indio, Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, and Palm Desert.
There is no word from authorities on what led to Monday’s arrest nearly four years later.
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