SERIAL KIDNAPPER AND CONVICTED RAPIST EDUARDO HERNANDEZ PLEADS GUILTY TO KIDNAPPING ANOTHER WOMAN IN HAVERSTRAW
NEW CITY, N.Y. – District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced today that Eduardo Hernandez, 49, of Garnerville, New York, pled guilty to Kidnapping in the Second Degree in Rockland County Court on March 4, 2026, before the Honorable Kevin F. Russo. The defendant will be sentenced to 14 years in state prison. The sentencing is scheduled for June 3, 2026.
On September 14, 2025, at approximately 5:25 p.m., the defendant attacked a woman outside a home in the Village of Haverstraw, New York. The defendant abducted the woman by restraining her with intent to prevent her liberation as he grabbed her by the neck and held a screwdriver to her throat, threatening to use deadly physical force. The woman fought the defendant off and called for help. Witnesses observed the defendant flee in a vehicle and observed the vehicle’s license plate number.
Investigators located the defendant’s vehicle and initiated a traffic stop the following day at approximately 9:15 a.m. in Stony Point, New York. The defendant fled on foot, but was quickly apprehended and transported to the Haverstraw Police Department.
The investigation was conducted by the Haverstraw Police Department with assistance from the Stony Point Police Department, and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office.
Eduardo Herandez was released from state prison on March 15, 2022, after serving a total of 19 years of incarceration for 3 separate felony convictions. On August 4, 2004, the defendant pled guilty to Rape in the First Degree pertaining to one female victim and pled guilty to the Kidnapping in the Second Degree of second woman, both occurring on April 18, 2004. He received two 14-year determinate terms of incarceration concurrent with each other for those crimes. On June 29, 2005, Hernandez pled guilty to Kidnapping in the Second Degree with respect to an earlier abduction of a third woman on December 22, 2002. He received an additional 5-year determinate sentence in prison to be served consecutively to the previous 14-year sentences for the crimes committed on April 18, 2004.
Hernandez’s history dates back to April 18, 2004, when at approximately 8:00 pm, the victim, a 52 year old female was walking home from the grocery store on Cosgrove Avenue in the Village of West Haverstraw when she was approached from behind by Eduardo Hernandez who proceeded to put a rope around her neck and pulled her inside of a van. Once he had the victim inside of the vehicle he forcibly held her face down, tore her clothing and raped her vaginally and anally. During the rape he threatened her not to look at him, stating that he had a gun and that he would kill her. After the rape, and while still in the van he stole her purse and money. He proceeded to partially dress her and then placed a laundry bag over her head and ordered her out of the van and drove away. The victim went to her home and immediately called 911.
Approximately 30 minutes later, at approximately 9:00 pm a second woman, age 31, was doing laundry in the basement laundry room of the Kensington Circle apartment complex in Haverstraw, when the defendant entered the building. As she was standing in front of the dryers in the room, the defendant approached her from behind and put his arms around her neck and proceeded to restrain her and drag her several feet behind the dryers. A struggle ensued and the defendant forcibly began to pull the electrical cords from the dryers and tried to wrap them around the victim’s neck. The victim proceeded to fight him off and screamed for help. Hernandez then fled the laundry room, and the victim called the police. Based upon the description provided by the second female victim, the defendant was stopped and detained approximately 40 minutes later. The second victim was brought to the location where he was detained and positively identified him as the person who abducted her. The defendant was interviewed by members of the Town of Haverstraw police department and made admissions to being at both crime scenes. The van used in the first incident was located, secured and a search warrant was obtained for it. Upon execution of the warrant order, rope, laundry bags and money were located inside. During the course of these investigations, Hernandez provided the police department with a DNA sample. The DNA sample was entered into the New York State DNA databank.
Back on December 22, 2002, a 48-year-old woman was walking on a path at the Marian Shrine in the Town of Haverstraw, New York. A man suddenly ran up from behind her, grabbed her, put his hands around her eyes and mouth and put a rope around her neck. He then forcibly pulled her off the path and into a wooded area where he got on top of her. He told her to be quiet and that he would not hurt her. The victim struggled with this man, was able to break free and ran to the residence at Marian Shrine with the rope still around her neck. She gave a description to the police, and a canine unit tracked a scent from the scene of the crime to the area of North Rockland High School where a grey shirt was recovered. The Town of Haverstraw Police Department responded to investigate. The rope was seized as evidence and sent to the New York State Police Laboratory in Albany, NY, along with the grey shirt. In August of 2004, the DNA Databank matched the DNA profile of Eduardo Hernandez and the victim as being on the rope recovered from her neck. The shirt matched the DNA of Eduardo Hernandez as well. Hernandez was placed in a court ordered line up on April 13, 2005, and the victim from the Marian Shrine kidnapping identified him as her attacker. Hernandez was subsequently charged with this third kidnapping and pled guilty on June 29, 2005, to Kidnapping in the Second Degree and received an additional 5-year prison term to run consecutively to the 14 year sentences he received for the crimes he committed on April 18, 2004.
The 2004 and 2005 cases were prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Doreen M. Lloyd. The instant 2025 case is being prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Gerard M. Damiani III and Senior Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin DeLuca of the Special Victims Unit.
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