By Joe Slaninka

Sentinel News


After a more than a year of living in fear, the residents of the Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac communities say they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Montgomery County police said Friday they arrested and charged a man with first-degree murder and five counts of robbery in connection with a string of home robberies occurring in the down-county area since September of last year.

"I am greatly relieved to bring the news of this arrest to our community," Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said at a press conference Friday. "We know that many of our residents and their loved ones have been living in fear."

Jose Juan Garcia-Perlera, 33, of Hyattsville, working as an independent electrician, broke into and robbed four homes in Montgomery County, dating back to Sept. 17, 2007, police said. They also said he robbed another in Northwest Washington, D.C. in January of this year.

Garcia-Perlera is also charged with the murder of Frances Havenstien, who lived alone on Seven Locks Road in Bethesda and was found dead on Sept. 4 by a relative who came to pick her up for a doctor's appointment, police said.

Garcia-Perlera, an illegal immigrant according to law enforcement officials, is from Salvador, and was arrested and released on bail by New York City police in 2000, police said. They also said they believe he has been living in the area since 2006.

The string of burglaries Garcia-Perlera is responsible for in the area, other than Havenstein's home and the home in D.C., occurred on Maryknoll Avenue in Bethesda, Montgomery Street in Chevy Chase, Picasso Lane in Potomac and Brookside Drive in Bethesda. In all six incidents, the victims' ages ranged from 63 to 92 and they were all hog-tied, police said.

After linking three of six home invasions through DNA discovered at Havenstein's home, police developed Garcia-Perlera as a suspect when items, stolen from an unrelated burglary in the area, were discovered at a local pawn shop he frequented, according to police.

The owner declined to release any information when contacted due to the still-open investigation.

After obtaining a warrant, police searched Garcia-Perlera's Hyattsville home and found more stolen items, linking him to the home invasions, police said.

Brad Botwin, Director of Help Save Maryland, an organization that works to help preserve Maryland communities from the negative effects of illegal immigration, is concerned about the possibility that Garcia-Perlera may have been arrested and released by Montgomery County police in the past.

"Manger and [Montgomery County Executive Isiah] Leggett are breathing a big sigh of relief right now," Botwin said.

Section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act "authorizes the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers."

According to Botwin, Manger "refused" to train officers in accordance with the amendment and Leggett "did not want to fund the training."

"If [Garcia-Perlera] was arrested, he would have been let go," Botwin said. "There is a person dead now because county officials did not want to spend the time training officers. This is my problem with our elected officials."

Botwin said Help Save Maryland is investigating to see if Garcia-Perlera was arrested and released by Montgomery County police in the past. If he was, Botwin said "we will be asking [Manger] for his resignation."

Police said they believe Garcia-Perlera is responsible for other robberies in the area in addition to the string of six home invasions.


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