A 24-year-old woman from Hesperia who was trying to bum a ride outside a jail Wednesday was accused of carjacking and kidnapping an elderly woman just five hours after her first arrest, the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department said.
Monique Irene Cadena was arrested on suspicion of carjacking and kidnapping hours after she was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said.
Fontana police officers arrested Monique Irene Cadena at 10 p.m. on Sierra Avenue and Foothill Boulevard when they found her in a 2004 Hyundai Sonata that was reported stolen.
Cadena had been arrested earlier in the day in Victorville, but was released around 5 p.m.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said that when she left the facility, she spoke to people in the visitor area of the jail asking them for a ride.
When she couldn’t find a ride, officials believe she saw the Hyundai running, hopped in and took off with an elderly woman inside. A witness in the parking area noticed the older woman yelling for help and quickly reported what she saw to a deputy.
Cadena later dropped the senior off at a gas station near Cherry and Valley Avenues. The woman was found at the gas station unharmed and taken back to the jail to be interviewed and reunited with her family, authorities said.
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After searching for Cadena and the car, Fontana police found Cadena and arrested her without incident. She was transported and booked into the West Valley Detention Center for carjacking and kidnapping.
Cadena was being held on $250,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center and is expected to appear in a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom for arraignment Friday if criminally charged by prosecutors, according to booking records.
