Cops: NJ creep tried to kidnap woman from sidewalk

GARFIELD — A 25-year-old city man has been arrested on charges of stalking and trying to kidnap a female while she was walking.

Michael Hernandez was taken into police custody on May 16, a day after Garfield police contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigators with the prosecutor’s office Special Victims Unit helped look into “multiple suspicious incidents” within the past month or so.

The female victim said that on May 8, she was grabbed by the neck and backpack as a male stranger tried to remove her from the sidewalk.

An “unknown good Samaritan” stepped in to help and the man ran away, police said.

Detectives identified the attacker as Hernandez and found that he had begun stalking the victim in April.

The Bergen County Regional SWAT Team helped arrest Hernandez and he was charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping and fourth-degree stalking.

He has faced multiple charges of criminal sexual contact in the past, according to Bergen County jail records.

In December 2022, Hernandez was arrested and also charged with simple assault, false imprisonment and harassment.