A Garfield man accused of trying to kidnap a woman off the sidewalk last month will remain in prison.

Michael Hernandez, 25, was arrested on May 16, about a week after he allegedly attempted to grab her off a Garfield sidewalk and he appeared before Bergen County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Steinhart on May 31.

During the hearing, Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Yannette said the victim was walking down the street when she noticed Hernandez sitting on the steps of a residence and walked past him where he immediately began to follow her.

Yannette said the victim continued to walk away, at one point pretending to be on the phone to get him to stop calling and following her.

“And at some point, he runs towards her, this is on surveillance,” Yannette said.

The assistant prosecutor said the woman’s back was to Hernandez so she didn’t see him run up behind her where he then grabbed and held on to her backpack and put his arm around her neck, pulling her. She said he also tried to grab her hands to restrain her and attempted to move her. Yannette said the victim believed Hernandez was trying to pull her backward to a different location but she physically resisted him.

Good Samaritan

She told police another man called out for Hernandez to stop and that was when he let go and ran from the scene. During the hearing, Yannette said this was not the first instance of Hernandez following the victim. On May 15, the Garfield police notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that there had been “multiple suspicious incidents” involving a then-unidentified man following a woman for about a month.

During the hearing, when Hernandez’s attorney, Aaron Miller, asked about the surveillance video and the victim being grabbed around the neck, Yannette said she had not yet seen the video and that reports indicated he grabbed the victim out of view of the camera.

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Miller said he was concerned because there were multiple statements made, including the victim being unsure whether or not Hernandez had tried to kiss her cheek. Miller argued the state didn’t provide any evidence to show that Hernandez was attempting to kidnap the victim, noting it just seemed like physical contact was made and there was an allegation he pulled on her backpack.

“It is very unclear what the attempt, what was happening there,” Miller said. “Is this a simple assault charge? Maybe. He’s not charged with simple assault. It could be a harassment charge.”

He said he doesn’t believe there is any evidence showing Hernandez or “whoever the suspect is” trying to remove the victim from a residence or business or “any substantial distance” from where the victim was found.

Positive ID?

According to Miller, he mentioned another suspect because, during a photo array, she didn’t pick anyone out. On a second and third pass of the photos, she identified Hernandez with 70% certainty. Steinhart pointed out that the victim 100% identified Hernandez’s lips and eyes. Miller acknowledged that if the case goes to trial, the admissibility and strength of the identification of Hernandez would be litigated.

Miller said it seemed as if the state was attempting to “reverse engineer” the accusation into a sexual assault but there is no proof of an intention nor if Hernandez was trying to move the victim from where she was for a substantial amount of time.

Yannette countered Miller’s argument by saying the kidnapping was stopped by a Good Samaritan and the victim fighting back.

“The issue is that the state is massively speculated on what was happening there,” Miller said. “It could have been a robbery, it could have been a sexual assault. We don’t have enough evidence to prove any of these but we still think that he was attempting to remove her a substantial distance from that facility or keep her confined for a substantial period of time. And the state has no proof of any of that.”

Despite Miller’s arguments, Steinhart found there was probable cause for the attempted kidnapping charges.

During the second half of the hearing to determine whether or not Hernandez would remain in jail, Yannette said the victim is terrified to leave her home. She referred to a detective’s report that said Hernandez spoke about walking together with the victim with “their arms engaged” but didn’t go into further detail and said it was “extremely concerning” because Hernandez believed they were walking together when she was afraid. She said the victim had to change the route she would take and would duck into popular places for her protection and said she couldn’t take out the garbage without Hernandez showing up and trying to speak with her.

Long criminal history

Yannette said Hernandez also admitted to observing another woman and grabbing her butt and that he’s admitting to harassing women. She noted he has a long criminal history as well as a history of failing to appear in court and has had several temporary restraining orders filed against him.

Miller argued that Hernandez has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, anxiety and depression and said when he was recently released from prison, he didn’t believe he was placed on parole and was not given aftercare information or any kind of instruction regarding his mental health. Miller said he does not believe Hernandez has been properly medicated and that his diagnosis has a “significant impact” on his behavior.

He said Hernandez should be required to get a mental health evaluation and that medication would help substantially in him being a danger to the community. He also suggested home detention with GPS monitoring.

Steinhart ruled that Hernandez would remain in the Bergen County Jail despite Miller’s arguments, saying thousands of people who have anxiety and depression do not go around committing similar crimes.

The judge said there is no reason for the Bergen County Jail not to arrange for a psychiatric evaluation and to make sure he is taking his medication.

Hernandez is expected back in court on July 11.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Garfield man accused of attempted kidnapping to remain in jail