Crime & Safety
Mental Competency Hearing for Man Alleged to Have Beaten South Pas Woman
Authorities say Alonzo Bernard Johnson walked into a 79-year-old South Pasadena woman's apartment, pointed a knife at her and threatened to kill her before beating her with his hands and fists.
Patch editor Donna Evans and City News Service contributed to this article
A convicted felon whom authorities say beat and burglarized an 80-year-old South Pasadena woman in August will have a mental competency hearing for the court to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial.
Alonzo Bernard Johnson is charged with residential burglary and other crimes stemming from the Aug. 6 attack in an apartment in the 1000 block of Indiana Avenue.
He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday for a status hearing related to the upcoming mental competency hearing.
Johnson allegedly entered the home through a door left open by the victim who was waiting for her grandchildren to arrive, according to South Pasadena Detective Bill Earley.
Johnson asked to charge his cell phone, but when the victim told him to leave, he allegedly pulled out a kitchen knife and threatened to kill her, according to reports.
While holding the knife to her, the suspect then allegedly forced her into a rear bedroom, face down onto the bed and began beating her, police reported. The woman was saved by her grandchildren, who happened to walk in shortly after.
Johnson was carrying an MTA pass, and allegedly took the Gold Line from L.A. to South Pasadena, said Earley. His last registered address was to a group home on Skid Row.
Earley told Patch Johnson has been in and out of jail since the '80s. He has used several aliases and has served time in state prison, according to reports. Previous felony arrests include robbery and burglary.
He was released from jail in July after serving time for a parole violation, said Earley.
In October, Sierra Madre police officers who had heard about the crime in South Pasadena, filed charges against Johnson for allegedly committing burglaries in their city, believing he fit the profile for those unsolved crimes.
A Sierra Madre resident positively identified Johnson as the burglary suspect.
The victim, 80, was treated at a hospital for a broken nose, unspecified internal injuries, and numerous cuts and bruises.
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