PASADENA >> A Pasadena man kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and drove her around the city before police arrested him early Saturday morning, officials said.
Javier Vasquez, 21, was booked on suspicion of kidnapping and false imprisonment, Pasadena police Lt. John Mercado said.
Police received a report about 2 a.m. of a distraught woman sitting on a curb in the 200 block of South Oak Knoll Avenue, he said.
“(She) tells us that her boyfriend forced her into his car against her will,” Mercado said. “He drove her around the city of Pasadena and wouldn’t let her get out.”
The woman tried to escape several times as the car slowed or stopped for traffic, the lieutenant said. “He would grab her by her wrist or hair.”
Vasquez ultimately released the woman on Oak Knoll Avenue and drove off, Mercado said. Police arrested him as a returned home later in the morning.
The victim, an Altadena resident, suffered no serious injuries.
According to county booking records, Vasquez was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail pending his initial court appearance.