A 22-year-old woman said a stranger got in her car and pointed a gun at her before forcing her to drive him around northeast Harris County.
Marvin Daniel Hernandez, 20, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery in the case. His bond is being referred to the magistrate judge.
The victim in the case is a 22-year-old woman who only speaks Spanish. Reporters agreed to conceal her identity for her safety.
She said she was stopped at a park in northeast Harris County at about 7 a.m. on April 23 before she headed to work at Mcdonald’s.
The man, who police later identified as Hernandez, opened her car door and got in.
“She was in shock,” the woman’s cousin said, who served as a translator. “Her first thought was, ‘What is he doing here? Why is he in my car?'”
The woman said he punched her in the side during a tussle for her phone and then put an address he wanted her to take him to into her map app.
“He pulled out the gun and was aiming it at her and told her to start driving and that the cops were after him,” the woman’s cousin said.
The young woman drove Hernandez for about 20 to 30 minutes before they stopped at a store, which was not where he wanted to go.
“He told her to get out. So, she got out, and he moved to the other side, threw her stuff outside, and left,” the woman’s cousin said.
She was rattled by what happened and still is. The 22-year-old said she hits the lock button repeatedly when she gets in her car now out of fear that it will happen again.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office recovered the woman’s car the next day. When she got it back, she said it was damaged and filled with other people’s belongings.
After the incident, Hernandez was not immediately charged or arrested.
He was taken into custody after an incident with Houston police on June 22.
Charging documents said he and three or four others approached a woman at an apartment complex early in the morning and demanded her car.
The car was spotted by officers, but the driver refused to pull over. Hernandez led police on a chase, according to records.
After his arrest in that case for robbery and evading, he was charged in the previous case from April.
Currently, Hernandez does not have a bond set in the April case. A magistrate judge will make a determination during his court hearing on Wednesday, July 5.