Indio man accused in 3 Coachella Valley rapes in custody

A 46-year-old Indio man, accused of two sexual assaults that happened in 2006 and one in 2014, was arrested Monday night in Whitewater.

Daniel Candelario Delgadillo was taken into custody by police near the Haugen Lehmann offramp off Interstate 10 in Whitewater. He was charged with 16 felonies, including rape, kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment last week, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Delgadillo saw charges of the rapes of two victims dropped in 2008. He was alleged to have used a knife in one of the assaults, which took place about five months apart.

Six years later, investigators say Delgadillo gave a woman a ride from a Palm Springs bus stop to a residence in Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage, where he sexually assaulted, punched, and choked her. The pair then got back in the car where, with the woman telling police that she leapt out of his car because she believed he “was taking her up the mountain to kill her.”

The victim provided a suspect description to investigators, but the house where the alleged assault took place could not be located at the time.

The victim’s sexual assault kit was not analyzed for more than a year after the alleged assault occurred. No reason was given for the lengthy delay. Investigators say DNA results received in March 2016 linked Delgadillo to the crime.

Court documents state that while investigating the 2014 incident, Delgadillo was found to be a suspect in four other sexual assaults throughout the Coachella Valley.