Ruben Dario Gonzalez Arrested in Rio Rancho Kidnapping, Sexual Assault of 13-Year-Old

Ruben Dario Gonzalez, 34, was taken into custody by the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau on Feb. 15 after a 13-year-old juvenile from Rio Rancho reported she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted and escaped to a gas station to call for help, according to a New Mexico State Police press release and reporting by Rrobserver.

Family members filed a missing-person report in Sandoval County on the evening of Feb. 14 after the juvenile left her Rio Rancho home, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported; that outlet said she had left to go skateboarding at a nearby park. KRQE reported the girl was longboarding near her home when a man approached her, creating the timeline that led to her contacting police in the early hours of Feb. 15.

Court records and the probable-cause narrative reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican allege the suspect approached the girl in a white sedan and posed as an Uber driver sent by her father. Those same documents, as described in reporting, allege Gonzalez threatened to kill the girl when she refused to get into the vehicle, forced or told her to smoke cannabis, sexually assaulted her in the back seat and again at a separate location, and filmed some of the acts.

The narrative of how Gonzalez approached the juvenile differs across reporting. Rrobserver cited statements Gonzalez gave to officers, saying he told investigators he was a DoorDash driver who offered the girl a ride after completing deliveries; Rrobserver reported Gonzalez claimed the juvenile entered his vehicle voluntarily, that the sexual acts were consensual, and that he thought she was 21. Rrobserver also recorded Gonzalez telling officers he used Google Translate to communicate and admitting he smoked marijuana. The differing accounts, posed-as-Uber allegation in court records versus Gonzalez’s DoorDash claim to police, remain unresolved in public filings.

Rrobserver and the NMSP press release say the juvenile convinced the suspect to let her use a restroom, fled, and then called police from a gas station early Feb. 15; Albuquerque Police Department officers responded to that call. The juvenile identified the suspect’s vehicle to responding officers, prompting a pursuit and apprehension, Rrobserver reported. New Mexico State Police arrested Gonzalez following the investigation and booking papers show charges filed in Bernalillo County.

Authorities charged Gonzalez with kidnapping and felony sexual offenses described variously in reports as criminal sexual penetration of a minor and second-degree sexual penetration of a child, along with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Rrobserver and the Santa Fe New Mexican. Prosecutors are seeking to detain him pretrial and Gonzalez is being represented by the Law Offices of the Public Defender; he is being held at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center. Rrobserver noted that, if convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face life imprisonment.

New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler, in an emailed statement quoted by the Santa Fe New Mexican, said, “This horrific crime against a child will not be tolerated in our communities,” and that NMSP “remain[s] steadfast in its dedication to protecting children and ensuring offenders are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Court docket entries, bond amounts, and hearing dates have not been made public in the reports reviewed.