Crime

Man arrested in R.I. after allegedly kidnapping elderly woman from outside Mass. restaurant

The 36-year-old Johnston, Rhode Island, man has pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, including indecent assault and battery.

Michael J. Guerrero. Pembroke police

September 30, 2025

2 minutes to read

A man was arrested late last week after allegedly kidnapping an elderly woman from outside a Massachusetts restaurant earlier this month, indecently assaulting her in her car, and then fleeing from her at a Rhode Island intersection.

Michael J. Guerrero, 36, of Johnston, Rhode Island, posed as a valet worker at the 99 Restaurant in Pembroke and drove off with the 75-year-old victim on the night of Sunday, Sept. 14, according to a Pembroke police report filed in court.

The woman had reportedly returned to the restaurant around 9:15 p.m. to retrieve her phone and wallet, which she had left there earlier in the day while dining after church. The restaurant was closed when she arrived, and Guerrero, identifying himself as a valet worker, told the woman that he would drive her around to the open back door, police say.

Once she was in the passenger seat in her car, Guerrero began driving toward a highway and told her they were going to Providence, Rhode Island, according to police.

When the woman asked to be let out repeatedly, Guerrero said “not yet” and “you need to do a few things,” she told police.

Guerrero allegedly exposed his penis, repeatedly grabbed the woman’s hand toward him, and said, “If you don’t do what I say, I have a gun and I might as well shoot you.” The woman said she never saw a gun.

Guerrero also grabbed the woman’s breast over her shirt, according to the report.

While stopped at a traffic light in Johnston, the woman opened her door to escape, police say. Guerrero then turned off the car and threw the key over the woman as he fled, according to the report.

The woman then located the key and approached a Johnston police officer working a nearby detail to ask for directions back to Massachusetts. She also told the officer what had happened and he advised her to report it to Pembroke police, which she did the following day.

She said she did not call police that night as she was “exhausted, traumatized and cried [herself] to sleep,” according to the report.

Police said they obtained surveillance footage from the 99 and traffic reports from Rhode Island police corroborating the woman’s statement and timeline.

During their investigation, police learned Guerrero had visited four other local restaurants earlier on in the night and was ultimately asked to leave all of them, according to the report. He allegedly was making other patrons and staff uncomfortable.

After police identified Guerrero as the suspect, he was arrested and charged with five felonies: carjacking, kidnapping, indecent assault and battery on a disabled or 60+ individual, assault and battery on a disabled or 60+ individual, and assault with a dangerous weapon, according to court documents.

He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges on Monday and is being held without bail until his dangerousness is determined at a detention hearing on Oct. 6, according to the documents.