By Koda Slingluff
SACRAMENTO – Andres Gutierrez allegedly violated a court order and his probation, according to a victim who told a courtroom here that she feared he was going to kidnap her children.
Gutierrez faced Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Scott L. Tedmon Thursday, as his domestic violence victim addressed the court, testifying that Gutierrez violated a protective order against her and her children.
She said over Zoom livestream that she believed Gutierrez may have planned to kidnap her two sons. If he were freed, she worried he would try again.
Per court order, she explained, Gutierrez has no visitation rights to see the children. He also has a 10-year no contact order to stay away from the victim herself. He is not allowed within 200 yards of the victim and her family’s residence.
However, Gutierrez came to her property while she was away at work. Her father was watching the children. Gutierrez was accompanied by his girlfriend, who kept watch as he approached the outside window of the home.
She said her father is deaf and has a service dog to alert him if someone approaches. Gutierrez was aware of the father’s deafness and of the dog. She believes he used her father’s disability to 
his advantage.
Through the window, Gutierrez told his seven-year-old son to open the door.
“My son naturally did what his father told him to do and opened the door, causing the dog not to bark [which kept my dad from] knowing anyone was at the door,” the victim recounted.
Her father noticed the cool air of the door opening, and, registering what was happening, quickly rushed to tell Gutierrez to leave. Gutierrez knocked again, attempting to give his son money, when the father managed to close the door.
“What is really scary to us is,” the victim’s lip quivered, and she appeared to be verge of tears, “as he left, he told [my son] ‘I promise to come back for you…I promise I will be back.’”
Gutierrez has a history of abusing drugs such as Percocet and Fentanyl, according to the victim.
When her son told her that Gutierrez’s eyes were “big and red,” she suspected that he and his girlfriend may have been under the influence during the incident at her home.
In light of the incident, the victim said she has had to relocate her children and pay higher costs in child care to keep them safe.
She concluded her statement expressing the fear.
“Will he again be defiant to the court order and take the opportunity [to] harm us? Why were they on the property for over an hour? Were they plotting and planning to kidnap my children?” the victim asked.
“How many times has he come around that I don’t know about? When is this going to happen next? Why did he bring his girlfriend? What if I was home? What would have happened?”
She continued, “I don’t have answers. All I have is more questions, more questions, and more questions. Which is completely terrifying for me, my children, my father.”
The victim also filed an additional police report in June, when Gutierrez and his girlfriend showed up at the victim’s workplace and purposefully paced in front of the building.
Later, the girlfriend allegedly talked about the workplace incident on Facebook, posting how she had “pumped fear into [the victim’s] blood.”
Throughout the testimony, Gutierrez was visibly agitated. He paced in the courtroom, putting his hands over his head, and muttered to himself unintelligibly several times as the victim spoke.
Gutierrez’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Joe Cress, requested reasonable bail in light of his pregnant girlfriend, employment with a moving company, and involvement in the community. Cress also pointed out that the defendant takes methadone and seizure medications at community medical appointments.
Alternatively, Deputy District Attorney Renishta Lal requested that no bail be set in light of the victim’s fears and Gutierrez not abiding by the no contact order already in place.
In response, Judge Scott Tedmon decided to set bail at $250,000. He reasoned that Gutierrez “presents a danger to not only the victim but the family at large based on the case that’s presented.”
The victim thanked Judge Tedmon tearfully for his decision.
Koda is a junior at UC Berkeley, majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Rhetoric. He is from Ventura, CA.
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