Stalker Stopped: NJ Woman Saved From Kidnapping By Good Samaritan, Prosecutors Say

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A stalker tried to kidnap a woman off of a street in Bergen County earlier this month, but a good Samaritan saved her, prosecutors said Monday. After an arrest involving the SWAT team, a suspect has been charged.

Michael Hernandez, 25, of Garfield was arrested Thursday, May 16, and charged with attempted kidnapping and stalking, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.

The Garfield Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit had been investigating incidents of an unidentified man following a woman in Garfield.

The investigation began on May 8, when a woman reported she was grabbed by neck and backpack by an unidentified man who tried to remove her from the sidewalk. According to the woman, an unknown Good Samaritan intervened and the suspect fled the area on foot.

Investigators determined Hernandez had begun stalking the victim in April before trying to kidnap her in Garfield.

Hernandez was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.