Pasadena police arrest Crosby man while investigating woman's death

Steven A. Hobbs

Pasadena police say an investigation into a woman's death has lead them to arrest a man accused of attacking prostitutes in the Sheldon area.

Steven A. Hobbs, 40, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault and aggravated assault. Police say he is a "person of interest" in the death of Wanda Trombley, 57, whose bones were found Sept. 22 in the 6100 block of Red Bluff Road in Pasadena.

While investigating her death, Pasadena detectives found out that Trombley worked as a prostitute in the area around the intersection of Interstate 10 and Freeport Street, and began interviewing other prostitutes who worked in that area. Three of these women told detectives that a large, armed white male had assaulted them.

Police say Hobbs worked as a security guard at the site of a company in Wallisville where one of the assaults took place. They say he also worked for the same company at another location very near to where Trombley's remains were found.

However, police are not yet accusing him of killing Trombley.

"We feel like there is [a connection]," Pasadena Police Department spokesperson Vance Mitchell said. "As to why we believe that, I can't share at this point."

"We do not have a cause of death," Mitchell added, though police have not ruled out homicide.

Mitchell said the three victims have positively identified Hobbs as their attacker. Police arrested him last week while he worked at a job site in downtown Houston. They found a handgun in his possession, and another at his home.

Hobbs is currently being held on $200,000 bond in the Harris County Jail.