Palmdale Man Held in Attempted Kidnaping
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man who lives in a Palmdale trailer park on suspicion of attempting to kidnap a woman resident with a toy gun.
William Roney, 31, was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Sherry Stevens, 23, who also lives in the park on East Avenue R but did not know Roney, told police that she was walking in the desert Wednesday evening when a man grabbed her, put a gun to her head and said, “If you yell, I’ll blow your brains out.”
Ignoring the warning, she yelled, “Get the cops” to her roommate’s son, who was nearby. Soon afterward she escaped and ran to safety while the gunman fled into the desert, she said.
Deputies arrested Roney, who matched the description of the assailant, near the trailer park a short time later. He threw an object into the bushes, which turned out to be a toy gun, deputies said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
