Man stabs stranger in her Fresno home while on post-prison supervision, officials say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Action News was in Sanger as deputies once again arrested 41-year-old Samuel Botello Rodriguez on Tuesday.

He's accused of randomly entering a woman's Fresno County home on Sunday, before punching and stabbing her.

The terrified victim survived after locking herself in a room until a family member came home and called 911.

But when Action News spoke to the sheriff's office Tuesday, we learned this wasn't the suspect's first run-in with the law.

"We've identified the man, he's a homeless person, 41 years old, Samuel Botello Rodriguez. He is on AB109 for a prior burglary conviction," said Tony Botti with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

AB109 allows non-violent, non-serious offenders to be supervised at the county level after they are released from state prison.

"He's taken advantage of the system. There's no question about it. He's allowed to serve his time locally, but while he's out he's committing other crimes," said ABC30 legal analyst Tony Capozzi.

Action News took a deep dive into Rodriguez's criminal history through the Fresno County Superior Court's system.

Documents show he faced felony charges for "willfully and unlawfully threatening to commit a crime which would result in death and great bodily injury," in 2018.

He also faced domestic violence charges in 2020 and was convicted of second-degree commercial burglary in 2023.

Capozzi says Rodriguez was released from custody in August of last year, but faced legal trouble again just months later.

"So, while he's out, there's a violation against him. In December of 2024, just a month ago on December 24th Christmas Eve, he goes into court. He was in custody. He was in court, and he asked the court to release him on his own recognizance. The court did release him, based upon his promise to obey all laws and not to get in any more trouble," said Capozzi.

But that promise was allegedly broken during the violent attack on January 19th.

"Then he commits something very serious. He assaults, commits battery, stabs someone you know, very serious crimes, very aggravated crimes where death could have ensued. Luckily there was no death in this particular case," said Capozzi.

In the stabbing case from over the weekend, Rodriguez was arrested on attempted murder and burglary charges with a bail set at $1 million.

However, formal charges have not yet been filed through the district attorney's office.

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