Once-deported felon fatally stabs wife
Incident plays out as governor jousts with Trump over immigration law
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A day after she was wounded and her friend was killed, the surviving victim of a brutal knife attack wasn’t well enough Saturday to talk.
Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez said detectives were hoping to get a statement from the woman, who was in stable condition at St. Vincent’s Medical Center — something to help explain what led to 26-yearold Nidia Gonzalez’s death and a manhunt for the slain woman’s boyfriend.
Oscar Hernandez, 39, wound up being captured late Friday morning in Pennsylvania, where police said he had been on the run with couple’s 6-year-old daughter. Authorities said the girl was unhurt.
Charged with a number of offenses in Centre Hall, Pa., Hernandez will have a choice Monday of accepting or challenging extradition to Connecticut. There he’ll face unspecified charges related to the death of his girlfriend, the stabbing of her friend and the abduction of the young girl on Friday morning. The surviving woman’s name has not been released.
The capture of Hernandez, a once-deported felon with a history of domestic violence, came amid jousting between the Don- ald Trump White House and Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy over the role of states in enforcing federal immigration law. Governor defends stand
Last week, Malloy advised Connecticut municipalities and law-enforcement agencies that they were under no obligation to assist federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded to Malloy’s stance by saying the governor was turning a blind eye to immigration violations.
“The idea that you can decide which laws to agree or not to agree with or to follow or not follow undermines our entire rule of law,” Spicer said during a press briefing on Thursday.
ICE officials confirmed Friday that Hernandez, a citizen of El Salvador, was deported the fall of 2013, after he had been convicted of assaulting a former girlfriend in Stamford, where he worked at a deli. He was back in the county illegally, and it was unclear how or when he had returned.
As Hernandez was being held in Pennsylvania in connection with Gonzalez’s death, the Malloy administration defended its position.
“Our local laws are designed to protect our residents and also ensure that those in harm’s way feel safe seeking help from law enforcement,” Malloy spokeswoman Kelly Donnelly said Friday. “That’s why convicted violent felons are detained for deporta- tion under our state laws that the governor has consistently and strongly supported.”
In Centre Hall, Hernandez was charged Saturday with multiple crimes connected to the chase, including endangering the welfare of a child, fleeing a police officer and following too closely.
Pennsylvania state troopers said Hernandez admitted he had engaged in reckless driving Friday afternoon, including “driving to fast” and that he “struck” a tractor-tailor after a high-speed chase, according to a criminal complaint filed in district court. Speeds hit 125 mph
According to the Troopers’ affidavit, they kept an eye out for Hernandez’s gray 2017 Hyndai Sonata after receiving an Amber Alert that was triggered by a report from the Bridgeport Police Department. Troopers spotted him traveling north on Interstate 99, followed him for a while, and then pulled him over when he signaled as if to exit the highway.
“(Hernandez) turned off the ignition but would not exit the vehicle,” said Trooper Jeffrey Ebeck, in the affidavit. “He ultimately closed the driver door and fled northbound.”
With his daughter in the back seat, Oscar Hernandez led troopers on a chase which at times “climbed to 125 mph,” according to Ebeck.
Hernandez hit a patch of traffic, and was unable to brake fast enough to avoid a tractor-tailor in front of him, “causing a chain reaction crash” with other vehicles according to the affidavit.