SILVER SPRING, Md. — Police continue to search for more victims after a man was arrested for allegedly raping a woman on a trail in Silver Spring Tuesday. Court documents reveal new details about what investigators say happened on the Northwest Branch Trail.
Editor's Note: The details in this story are disturbing and may be triggering. Read with caution.
According to charging documents, two women were having lunch on the rocks near the trail in the park area of Northwest Branch when a stranger wearing a ski mask approached them just after 2:45 p.m.
Police have identified that stranger as 20-year-old Jose Roberto Hernandez-Penal.
After coming up to the women, Hernandez-Penal reportedly took a machete out of a black backpack and said he was robbing them, demanding they hand over their cell phones.
The two women complied and Hernandez-Penal allegedly pointed the machete at one of the women and said he needed to speak with her alone. He led her up the trail and away from her friend, pointing the machete at her back.
"[The woman] believed she was going to die," the charging document reads.
Once Hernandez-Penal had the woman alone, he reportedly took a necklace and bracelet from her and placed the jewelry in his pocket before raping the woman.
Court documents go on to say Hernandez-Penal returned to the area where he had first found the women and left both of the cell phones he had forced them to hand over.
The second woman had run from the area to a parking lot where she found a bystander and asked them to call the police.
The woman who was sexually assaulted stayed by the rocks until Hernandez-Penal left, then ran to the parking lot where she reunited with her friend. Police arrived and the woman who was assaulted was taken to the Shady Grove Medical Center.
Officers began searching the area and the suspect was found with the assistance of the Maryland State Police helicopter, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit and Maryland-National Capital Park Police.
Police say Hernandez-Penal was found with property belonging to the woman on him. Detectives claim he "made statements of admission" during an interview.
Hernandez-Penal was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. He has been charged with first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, three counts of armed robbery, kidnapping and concealing a dangerous weapon.
Detectives believe there may be more sexual assault victims by Hernandez-Penal that have not contacted police.
Anyone who believes themselves to be a victim may contact SVID at (240) 773-5050 or Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).