Ex-Con Arrested After Strolling Through Pasadena With Realistic-Looking BB Gun In Hand

Police confronted a woman holding what was ultimately determined to be a realistic looking BB gun early Thursday after witnesses reported seeing her walking through town with the air pistol in hand, officials said.

Police first received a call just before 5:40 a.m. reporting that a woman had been seen walking east along Walnut Avenue from Madison Avenue, carrying what appeared to be a handgun, Pasadena police Lt. Sean Dawkins said.

Minutes later, a second caller reported seeing an armed woman at the corner of Walnut Street and Lake Avenue, he said.

Responding officers found the woman in the courtyard of a business in the 100 block of North Lake Avenue, still clutching the pistol, Dawkins said.

“Officers have her directions to drop the weapon and put her hands up,” according to the lieutenant. “She followed the directions, thankfully, and officers were able to deescalate the situation.”

Once in custody, police determined the item in her hand was a realistic-looking BB gun, Dawkins said.

Sylvia Arredondo, 30, was booked on suspicion of brandishing a replica firearm, he said. She was described as transient.

She has a history of criminal conviction in L.A. County dating back a decade, including crimes such as grand theft and drug possession, according to L.A. County Superior Court records.

She was arrested in June of 2020 for a Pasadena arson, convicted and released seven months later, on March 11, one day after she entered a no contest plea to the charge, records show. 

Booking records indicate Arredondo was released on a “short sentence.” Under California law, the offense is punishable by two to six years in state prison.

She ignited a massive blaze that gutted an abandoned building known to be occupied by transients during the early-morning hours of June 17, 2021, officials said at the time.

Arredondo had initially been accused of three counts of attempted murder, because there were three people inside he building at the time. But prosecutors ultimately filed only an arson case against her.

The fire caused an estimated $100,000 worth of damage to the building, which was subsequently declared unsafe and leveled, along with other buildings on the property that had been damaged by the flames, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.

A motive was not clear.

Prior convictions also include possession of body armor by a convicted felon in April of 2019, according to court records.

An initial court appearance in connection with Thursday’s arrest was not yet scheduled.

Related:

Woman Charged With Arson Following Massive Pasadena Building Fire