Masked man identified with DNA evidenced processed by California DOJ

“Within less than six weeks following the attack, California DOJ criminalists identified the suspect using DNA collected from evidence and police were able to arrest him.  Their work may take place in a lab, but it has a sweeping positive public safety impact across California communities.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

CHICO- On June 13, 2024, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office charged Francisco Gutierrez-Gomez, 38, of Chico, who is accused of sneaking into the apartment of a young woman in his same apartment complex and attacking her with the intent to rape. Gutierrez-Gomez is charged with Assault to Commit Rape, as well as personally using a weapon during that crime.

On May 3, 2024, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Chico Police officers were called to an apartment complex in the 1000 Block of E. Lassen Avenue in north Chico. There officers located a 22-year-old woman who reported she had just been assaulted within her apartment by a masked stranger. She had suffered multiple injuries including cuts, bruises, and indications she had been strangled.

The young woman told investigators she was alone in her bedroom and got up to get a snack when she was surprised by an intruder in her home, shirtless and wearing a ski mask, who immediately began to violently assault her, including attempting to strangle her, smother her with a pillow, and striking her repeatedly in the head with a rock.  The woman fought back against her attacker, and he ultimately fled from the apartment leaving behind a hat and pocketknife.

Officers secured the items, which were sent to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) forensic laboratory for DNA analysis. A few weeks later DOJ was able to provide investigators with a potential “hit” for Gutierrez-Gomez’s DNA from a nationwide database where DNA profiles from past criminal cases are logged.

Officers and DOJ further confirmed a DNA match from a DNA sample Gutierrez-Gomez gave during a Butte County Jail booking a few days before the apartment attack.  Working with the DA’s special victims’ unit, Chico Police detectives immediately obtained an arrest warrant for Gutierrez-Gomez, who was arrested without incident on June 11, 2024.

Gutierrez-Gomez lived in the same apartment complex as the victim, less than 100 feet from her front door and with a clear line of sight to the stairs leading to her home.  During Gutierrez-Gomez’s arraignment, the DA’s office asked the judge to hold him in custody without bail due to the seriousness of his charges and the threat he posed to the community. The judge agreed. 

Gutierrez-Gomez will next appear in court on June 18, 2024 for further arraignment and entry of plea. If convicted, Gutierrez-Gomez faces life in prison.