Pasadena detectives investigating possible sexual assault of LCF woman
Pasadena Police Department detectives are investigating the possible sexual assault of a La Cañada Flintridge resident, after a woman reported drinking in Old Pasadena on the night of Tuesday, Oct. 23 and waking up the next morning in an unfamiliar location, her underclothing missing.
Lt. Jesse Carrillo, who heads the department’s detective bureau, said Wednesday officials were still working with the 40-year-old victim to pinpoint details about what happened that night.
“When there’s an allegation of a sexual assault, we treat it as if a sexual assault actually did occur,” Carrillo said. “We’re still trying to navigate the events with the victim as she starts recalling more of the details.”
According to the police report, the victim visited a Pasadena establishment to watch the first game of the World Series and consumed some alcoholic drinks before heading to Barney’s Beanery bar and restaurant just before midnight. There, she consumed additional beverages.
Things got blurry from that point on, Carrillo said. Sometime early Wednesday, at around 5 a.m., the woman woke up in what appeared to be the bathroom area of a nearby business building. The jeans she’d been wearing were removed, and she was missing some of her underclothing.
The victim called her mother from the scene, asking to be picked up, and reported the incident the following day. Carrillo confirmed officers conducted a rape kit examination on the woman.
“We don’t want to lose any potential evidence if, in the end, this turns out to be an actual sexual assault,” the lieutenant said, clarifying that performing sexual acts on someone who is too inebriated to give consent still constitutes a crime.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
