A Long Beach man pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Friday for his part in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman in Huntington Beach.
Angel Lopezevaristo, 33, pleaded guilty to kidnapping to commit asexual assault, forcible rape and sexual penetration by a foreign object with sentencing enhancements for kidnapping to commit a sex offense and inflicting great bodily injury in a sex offense, according to court records.
Co-defendant Florentino Contreras Bacilio, 51, of Long Beach, is awaiting trial on felony charges of kidnapping to commit a sex offense and forcible rape with sentencing enhancements for kidnapping to commit a sex offense. Bacilio is next due in court Jan. 31.
The two, who were cooks, were accused of kidnapping the victim in downtown Huntington Beach June 6, 2021, and later releasing her on Pacific Coast Highway south of Warner Avenue, where someone driving by saw her and called police, according to Huntington Beach police. She was taken to an area hospital and later released, police said.
Police said the defendants did not have a prior relationship with the woman.
The victim was walking home just before midnight when she was abducted, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The men were accused of dragging the woman into their vehicle and then gagging, choking and sexually assaulting her until she lost consciousness during the attack, prosecutors alleged.
The woman was pushed out of their vehicle when she woke up and started struggling with the two, prosecutors alleged.