Imperial County man found guilty of assault with injury

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The jury found an Imperial County man guilty of assault with injury earlier this week.

26-year-old Gabriel Mark Tellez was convicted of assaulting and injuring a family member back in September of 2023 due to an "incorrect belief that the victim previously called the police on him," according to the Imperial County District Attorney's Office.

This prompted Tellez to stop his vehicle after he saw the victim, a woman, walking down the side of the road in Winterhaven and attacked her with his fists until she fell down as well as kicked her multiple times, "cracking a rib and causing additional serious injuries" to her.

Tellez then left her unconscious on the side of the road, but she soon regained conscious to flag down an Imperial County Sheriff's Office (ICSO) deputy and reported the assault. However, Tellez was not located.

In a separate incident, according to the D.A.'s Office, Tellez was accused of "threatening conduct and a warrant was issued for his arrest."

While attempting to find Tellez, as well as collect evidence, ICSO teamed up with the U.S. Marshals Service and executed a search warrant, leading to Tellez's arrest.

Following this, Tellez accepted a plea to be convicted for attempted criminal threats, with the sentencing hearing for that case scheduled for next week.

Both the threatening-conduct case and the assault case, Tellez will now have two strikes on his criminal record.

Tellez also previously served time in jail where he was convicted of "being an accessory after the fact by aiding Anthony Raven Shepard after Mr. Shepard had committed a felony," the D.A.'s Office said who added that Shepard was later convicted related to the incident of "felony negligent discharge of a firearm."

Judge Christopher Plourd presided over the case and has ordered Tellez to remain in custody with no bail pending his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for next month.