SWAT Team Storms PalPark Apartment, Seizes Tenant Following Threats To Woman

A nearly three-hour standoff ended when a SWAT team burst into a Palisades Park garden apartment and seized a man who authorities said harassed and threatened a woman.

Jonathan C. Hernandez / Palisades Gardens in Palisades Park
Photo Credit: *GoogleMaps Street View / Boyd A. Loving (file photo) / BCJ*

Jerry DeMarco

05/20/2023 12:00 p.m.

Officers brought a temporary restraining order to the Palisades Gardens apartment of Jonathan C. Hernandez, 32, off Bergen Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, May 19.

Based on the victim's complaint, they suspected that Hernandez might have been armed, responders said.

Hernandez apparently refused to open the door and stopped communicating after a very brief text exchange, they said.

After conferring with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, borough police requested a Bergen County Regional SWAT team.

Officers from Fairview, Fort Lee and Ridgefield helped cordon off the area around the apartment complex near the Ridgefield border.

It was around 11 p.m. when members of the tactical team forced their way in and seized Hernandez without incident, neighbors said.

He remained held Saturday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Municipal Court in Hackensack on charges of making terroristic threats, harassment and obstruction, records show.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Rutherford and receive free news updates.