Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Efrain Jose Gregorio Monroy-Lara faces multiple charges tied to a violent robbery.
- The incident involved sexual assault and robbery, with alleged ties to Tren de Aragua.
- DNA evidence linked Monroy-Lara to the crime, police say.
WEST VALLEY CITY — A man is facing more than a dozen charges after police say he broke into a West Valley apartment in March, sexually assaulted a woman at gunpoint and robbed her.
Efrain Jose Gregorio Monroy-Lara, 30, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Monday and charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping, child kidnapping, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, first-degree felonies; aggravated assault, being a restricted person in possession of a gun, witness tampering and two counts of stealing a bank card, third-degree felonies; and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child and unlawful use of a bank card, class B misdemeanors.
"The alleged offenses are extremely violent and are not tolerated in Salt Lake County. My heart goes out to the victim-survivor that experienced such depravity. I hope the filing of these charges is the start of her healing journey," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said. "Thank you to our law enforcement partners with the West Valley City Police Department for their diligence."
On March 8, a woman reported to police that two men "forced their way into her apartment, stole jewelry, and that one male … raped her at gunpoint," according to a police booking affidavit.
After forcing their way inside, the two men forced the woman to go to a certain area of the apartment and ordered her not to look at them.
"She reported that the males searched her apartment and stole jewelry and items from her wallet, including two credit cards," the affidavit states.
Charging documents filed Thursday further state that the men "took two necklaces, bracelets and earrings that she was wearing. (She) said they asked her for her money and her 'cards' and threatened to kill her if she didn't tell them.
"Monroy-Lara grabbed her by the hair, pulled her into another room, and demanded money," the charges allege. "She was then pulled out to the living room by Monroy-Lara and told 'not to make a noise, or he would kill her and her daughter.'"
One man then sexually assaulted her, "pointed a gun at her at some point during the rape," and "put a pillow over her face to prevent her from looking at him," according to the affidavit.
When the second man told the first that someone would be there soon to pick them up, "the male stopped raping her and they told her to turn away from them, still at gunpoint. They told her that they would kill her and then they left," the affidavit says.
One man claimed they were "mafia TDA," which stands for Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization that has gotten recent attention for alleged activity in the United States, according to the charges. "The victim reported she begged for her life and begged the defendants not to hurt her daughter."
DNA was collected from the assault and put into a national database. It matched with Monroy-Lara, according to the arrest report.
Investigators then discovered that the woman's stolen credit cards were used in Utah, Idaho and California and collected surveillance video from several gas stations. They were able to identify a man in the videos believed to be Monroy-Lara.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security took Monroy-Lara into custody.
Investigators say he is "a person of interest in another case in which an armed burglary and robbery occurred," according to the affidavit.
Information about the second man believed to have participated in the robbery was not immediately available.
