DNA testing leads to 1990 Oxnard cold case arrest of Long Beach man
A decades-old case that involved the robbery and sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman in Oxnard has been solved after DNA testing identified a 55-year-old Long Beach man as the suspect.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of Bobby Rollins Jr. on Thursday, 36 years after the crime occurred in 1990.
"More than three decades after this violent kidnapping, advances in DNA technology and the determination of investigators have led to the arrest of Rollins and justice on behalf of a victim who never forgot what happened to her," District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said.
On June 11, 1990, Rollins and another unidentified suspect approached the woman as she was parked in her car in Oxnard and pulled her out of her car at gunpoint. She was robbed and forced down an embankment, where she was sexually assaulted by Rollins Jr., according to the district attorney's office.
Following the attack, the woman sped off in her car and crashed into a light pole about a half mile away from where the incident took place. Witnesses helped her until Oxnard police arrived. The district attorney's office said evidence was collected in 1990, but the suspects were not identified.
"Because evidence was carefully maintained for more than 30 years, it was still available when new DNA technology became capable of providing answers that simply weren't possible in 1990," Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said.
Rollins cannot be charged with sexual assault as the statute of limitations has expired, but he is charged with kidnapping for robbery with the special allegations that he used a firearm during the commission of the crime, the crime involved great violence, and the victim was particularly vulnerable when the crime was committed.
Investigators are trying to identify the other person who was with Rollins during the attack. It is also believed that Rollins may have committed similar crimes between 1989 and 1992.
If you believe you have information about this case or possible other unreported crimes Rollins may have committed, call the Ventura County District Attorney Investigator at (805) 477-1638.
