The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:
A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its afternoon deliberations to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty of an unprovoked attack on a senior suffering from compromised health.
The victim had been out on his daily doctor-ordered walk and was close to being back at home when he was confronted by a random stranger and attacked.
Defendant Curtis Daniel Bettencourt, age 34, of the Ukiah area, was found guilty of felony assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, said offense occurring on March 31st on Gobbi Street at the railroad tracks.
Regarding a separate charge relating to defendant Bettencourt’s later interaction on March 31st with responding law enforcement officers, the jury found the defendant not guilty of attempting to resist or deter an executive officer by threat of violence.
After the jury was excused, the defendant’s case was reset for August 29th at 1:30 p.m. in Department A of the Ukiah courthouse for a court trial on possible circumstances in aggravation alleged by the DA in the accusatory pleadings.
After the aggravation allegations are resolved, the defendant’s case will be referred to the Mendocino County Adult Probation Department for a background investigation and sentencing report.
Because the defendant has been convicted of prior felonies, including vehicle theft (2011), an earlier attempting to resist or deter an executive officer by threat of violence (2014), and an earlier assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury (2021), the law mandates that – when the sentencing hearing eventually rolls around — the defendant shall not be eligible for a grant of probation unless the court finds that it is in the interests of justice to override the statutory presumption applicable to felony recidivists that they not receive local probation leniency.
The law enforcement agency that assisted the victim and conducted the investigation of the March attack was the Ukiah Police Department.
Witness/evidence management and trial support was provided by the DA’s Bureau of Investigations and Victim/Witness Unit.
Special thanks are extended to the good Samaritans who were driving by that day, witnessed the attack, and deviated from their day to stop and help the victim until the police and ambulance could arrive. The information they provided allowed law enforcement to identify the defendant and effectuate his arrest within an hour.
The prosecutor who is handling this case and who presented the People’s evidence at trial was District Attorney David Eyster.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Patrick Pekin presided over the three-day trial. Judge Pekin will hear additional evidence, if any is needed, when the case is called again for the court trial on aggravators at the end of the month.e
I pray the elderly man is doing ok. I also pray this violent repeat criminal gets many years in prison. He could have killed the man!
Keep him locked up and throw away the key, what a bum.
Respect to the UPD for doing their job and not cutting corners. Unlike the WPD who, in a similar situation, threatened to arrest the victim if he pressed charges. Saving the officers the hassle of paperwork and investigation.