LOS ANGELES : Man to Be Tried in Hostage Incident at Airport Hotel
Rollen Frederick Stewart, whose rainbow-striped wig and penchant for hoisting religious placards made him a familiar figure at national sports events, was ordered Monday to stand trial on charges of taking a maid hostage at an airport hotel and making terrorist threats.
Los Angeles Municipal Judge David Horwitz ruled that there was enough evidence to hold Stewart for trial on 10 felony counts--including kidnaping for ransom, false imprisonment, assault with a caustic chemical, malicious possession of a bomb and malicious reporting of a bomb. Stewart is being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on Nov. 23.
The charges stem from a Sept. 22 incident in which Stewart barricaded himself in a room on the seventh floor of the Hyatt hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.
Prosecutors say Stewart sought a ransom for hotel housekeeper Paula Madera-Chan, who locked herself in a bathroom when he burst into the room. Stewart’s demands included access to all media networks to spread his belief that the second coming of Jesus Christ was at hand, Conn said.
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