By Darrell Smith
Former West Sacramento police officer Sergio Alvarez pleaded not guilty in Yolo Superior Court Thursday to 35 counts of sexually assaulting women while on patrol.
Alvarez, 37, has been held in lieu of $29.3 million bail since his Feb. 25 arrest on allegations including rape, sodomy and kidnapping of six women while on duty between October 2011 and September 2012. Alvarez, who had been in Solano County custody, appeared in Yolo County jail clothing for his brief morning hearing before Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg.
Alvarez's arrest came after a five-month investigation into the allegations and a grand jury indictment. Two phone book-sized stacks of transcripts from the panel were presented at the hearing. Rosenberg left a court order sealing the papers in effect.
A trial readiness hearing has been scheduled for March 22 in Yolo Superior Court.
PHOTO CAPTION: Former West Sacramento police officer Sergio Alvarez is lead from the Yolo County Courthouse by a Yolo County Sheriff's deputy after he pleaded not guilty in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland, Calif. on Thursday, March 7, 2013.
Alvarez is accused of sexually assaulting several women while on patrol. Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee









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