Pasadena Transient Accused of Kidnapping, Assaulting San Bernardino Woman

A 58-year-old transient with ties to Pasadena was set to be in court Tuesday to face charges of allegedly carjacking and kidnapping a woman in San Bernardino, and then assaulting her in Pasadena, before releasing her in Monrovia last Friday.

The man, identified later as Roger Lavelle Burns, was scheduled to be in San Bernardino Superior Court to answer to kidnapping, carjacking and sexual assault charges, a report in the Press-Enterprise said.

San Bernardino police said the unidentified victim was in her vehicle on Gilbert Street in San Bernardino Friday morning a man approached her and, allegedly simulating a weapon, ordered her from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat.

Police said Burns then drove off with the woman, all the while making threats to shoot her if she didn’t cooperate.

The Press-Enterprise report said Burns forced the woman to withdraw cash from an ATM and then allegedly ordered her back into the vehicle. Burns then drove to Rancho Cucamonga, and then on to Pasadena, where police said he forced the victim to pay for a motel room.

Burns allegedly sexually assaulted the woman at some point, police said.

Eventually, Burns drove to Monrovia and released the woman but kept the vehicle, police said. After the woman called police, detectives tracked Burns down to an undisclosed location in Pasadena and arrested him Friday evening.

The report said Burns is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.