WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (SCV News) — A man was arrested on Monday following DNA testing that linked him to a violent crime in West Valley City. Efrain Jose Gregorio Monroy-Lara, 30, is facing multiple charges after allegedly breaking into a woman’s apartment in March, sexually assaulting her at gunpoint, and robbing her.
On March 8, the woman reported to police that two men forcibly entered her apartment, stole jewelry, and one of the men sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. According to the police booking affidavit, the suspects forced the woman into a specific area of the apartment, instructed her not to look at them, and ransacked the apartment, taking jewelry and credit cards from her wallet.
The affidavit also detailed the assault, where one of the men held a gun to the victim and covered her face with a pillow during the attack. After a while, the men threatened to kill her and then fled the scene, leaving her in fear for her life.
DNA evidence collected from the crime scene was entered into a national database and matched with Monroy-Lara. Investigators also discovered that the victim’s stolen credit cards had been used in Utah, Idaho, and California. Surveillance footage from gas stations in these areas showed a man who was later identified as Monroy-Lara.
The Department of Homeland Security took Monroy-Lara into custody on Monday. He has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges including two counts of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Investigators also indicated that Monroy-Lara is a person of interest in another case involving armed burglary and robbery, though details about the second man involved in the March incident are not yet available.
