Riverside County woman allegedly kidnapped by former house cleaner

A Riverside County woman was arrested for allegedly kidnapping her former employer and assaulting her with a deadly weapon, law enforcement officials said. 

On Dec. 18 at around 10 a.m., deputies were dispatched to reports of a domestic dispute near Olive Avenue and Leon Road in an unincorporated area near Winchester, according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. 

Upon arrival, they found that the victim, who has not been publicly identified by law enforcement, had actually been kidnapped and assaulted with a deadly weapon, the release said. They did not disclose what type of weapon was used. 

Paramedics took the victim to a nearby hospital for injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, deputies said. 

The victim Erin Quinn said she went to the neighbor to collect donations for a toy drive. She said she had been texting with someone since the day before the attack. She said no one answered when she knocked on their door. 

"I'm getting text messages stalling," Quinn recalled. 

She went back to her car to wait for the donations. 

"I get in my front seat and as I'm sitting down someone in the back seat grabs my hair and starts tasing me on the side of my head," Quinn said. 

Quinn said she thought she was going to die until her attacker briefly stopped and ordered her to drive to a construction area. 

"She's continuing to tase me and pull my hair," Quinn remembered.

Amid the scrum, Quinn crashed her car into some parked vehicles on the side of the road. After the collisions, she started fighting back and ripped off the wig her attacker was wearing. At that moment, she realized she knew her attacker.

"When I pulled it off I realized it was my old house cleaner," she said. 

Eventually, a Good Samaritan pulled the suspect off Quinn and intervened.

"The suspect had fled the location before the arrival of deputies," the release said. "The area was searched, but the suspect was not located."

More than a week later, investigators located the suspect, since identified as 44-year-old Menifee woman Olga Mendez in Paramount. She was arrested on Friday and booked on suspicion of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and two unrelated warrants, deputies said. 

She is currently being held on $100,000 bail at the Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta. 

"The investigation is ongoing and no further details are available," the statement said. 

Anyone who may know more is urged to contact Perris Station deputies at (951) 210-1000.