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Margarito Hernandez-Valladers, 23, grabbed the woman in the rear parking lot area of the Korean Community Church on Tenafly Road around 5:30 a.m. July 28, authorities said.
He pulled her to the ground in a doorway but "stopped the attack and calmly walked away when the victim was able to wave down a passing vehicle," Detective Capt. Tim Torell said.The woman sustained minor physical injuries, he said.
Investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and city police worked the area intensively. The Bergenfield-Englewood-Teaneck-Hackensack Crime Stoppers group also offered up to a $1,000 cash reward for any information that could help crack the case.It worked.
Early last week, Torell said, "a phone tip came in with very specific information."That led to the arrest last Thursday of Hernandez-Valladares, also known as Jose Ramirez Jr.
"Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, along with statements Hernandez-Valladares made to detectives, he was arrested at the Englewood Police Station," the captain said.
A judge on Friday ordered that he remain held in the Bergen County Jail pending further court action on charges of sexual assault, criminal restraint and criminal sexual contact.
"The way in which this case progressed was a classic example of how a community, with the help of Crimestoppers, can work with their local law enforcement agencies in making their neighborhood a safer place to live," Torell said.
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