Kidnap suspect, illegal immigrant used forged papers
Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009

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By EMILY DONOHUE

MALTA — Employees of Bentley’s Restaurant on Route 9 said Wednesday they were shocked that one of their co-workers is the man accused of kidnapping and terrorizing a young woman.

"It was absolutely mind-blowing," one said.

Victor Vladimir Hernandez-Perez was arrested Sunday in the kidnapping of a woman on Walnut Street in Saratoga Springs the evening of July 23. He is accused of forcing the victim into his minivan, making her undress at gunpoint and threatening to rape her while he drove away from the city. She escaped by jumping out of the moving vehicle on Howe Road in Greenfield.

Hernandez-Perez is in Saratoga County Jail, charged with second-degree kidnapping, and first-degree robbery, both class-B felonies. Both charges carry a maximum of 25 years in prison.

"We were as shocked as everyone else," said one of the employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said Hernandez-Perez was employed at the restaurant for less than a year and had a "beautiful wife and child."

"It’s sad, just really sad that he’s ruined his life like this," he said.

Hernandez-Perez, an illegal immigrant, is an El Salvador native and crossed the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, police said Monday. He has a girlfriend and a young child who lived with him in Corinth.

District Attorney James A. Murphy III said Hernandez-Perez used a counterfeit passport and Social Security card to gain employment at the restaurant.

"Law enforcement has examined them and, while they are very good counterfeits, immigration has informed us that they are, in fact, counterfeits," he said.

Murphy said the documents were skilled forgeries and that the restaurant owner reasonably believed that Hernandez-Perez was a citizen.

"I think anybody in their shoes would believe that Mr. Hernandez-Perez was a U.S. citizen who had a valid Social Security card and identification documents that appeared to be real," he said.

In light of the suspect’s illegal status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed a "detainer" with Saratoga County Jail. That means that at the end of Hernandez-Perez’s criminal proceedings, he would serve any required jail time and will then be deported to his native El Salvador. He will be deported regardless of the outcome of the criminal case, Murphy said.

Murphy said that prosecuting illegal aliens accused of crimes like Hernandez-Perez, rather than simply deporting them, creates a "disincentive to come back."

Murphy said that by prosecuting Hernandez-Perez, the victim can seek justice.

"We have a live victim who was terrorized and traumatized … who was nearly killed, nearly raped and who was pistol-whipped and escaped fortunately," he said. "We’re about holding people responsible for their criminal conduct and it takes money to do that, and I think that’s appropriate."


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