RIVERSIDE – A Cathedral City man who was arrested for the abduction of a fellow UCR student last year will stand trial.
On June 8, 2014, a female victim reported to the Riverside Police that she had been abducted and held against her will. The abduction reportedly occurred around 4 p.m. on June 8 at the University Towers parking garage in the 3500 block of Iowa Avenue, near the University of California, Riverside.
The student reported that she was grabbed while in the parking garage by a man who forced her into his vehicle and then bound her. She was placed in the backseat and driven around the area.
Keeping her cool, the woman was able to talk her abductor into returning her to garage and releasing her. The victim was injured, but not sexually assaulted according to the police.
“She was able to humanize herself to the suspect and basically talk him down from following through with whatever his plan was for her that day,” said Riverside police Detective Rick Wheeler.
Using forensic evidence recovered from the scene and a description of the attacker and his vehicle, Donald Earl Rosenbek, Jr. was identified as the assailant. The victim confirmed his identity in a photo lineup. Rosenbek, a former UCR student, was a bartender with a prior record, including a misdemeanor in 2006 for domestic violence and a 2005 DUI arrest.
Rosenbek was arrested in October 2014 at a residence in Cathedral City and charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and assault by means of force. He remains in custody at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley in lieu of posting $1 million bail, according to jail records.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge David A. Gunn ruled Wednesday, July 29, there was sufficient evidence to hold Donald Earl Rosenbek Jr. for trial after hearing testimony from two Riverside police detectives during a preliminary hearing.
