A Conyers man was arrested by Conyers Police after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and then leading police on a "brief" car chase as he attempted to escape.
Nereo Hernandez, 34, is being charged with kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of battery for allegedly choking his 32-year-old girlfriend and the cutting her neck with a small razor, according to the police report. He is also an undocumented immigrant and had been deported in the past.
The incident began at the Conyers woman's residence around 6:30 a.m. Monday. Police responded to a caller that was "crying and yelling for help," according to the report.
"I noticed the female was shaking, crying and had an open cut on the right side of her face, just above her top lip," wrote Officer Scot McGinnis in his report.
The woman told police that Hernandez assaulted her in her residence in the 1200 block of South Hicks Circle because she wanted to end the relationship because "she didn't feel safe in the relationship anymore" and "because every time he comes around there is trouble."
When Hernandez heard her complaints and how she wanted to resolve it, he allegedly became upset. Hernandez began choking the woman until "she could barely speak or breathe," according to the report.
He then took a small cosmetic razor, normally used for shaping eyebrows, that the woman was holding in her hand and cut her neck for "several inches" from the center of her neck to her right ear, according to the report. The woman stated she didn't realize she had been cut until she felt the blood on her neck.
Hernandez then allegedly told her to get in the car with him or he would take her life. She complied and when Hernandez starting driving, she told police he was driving erratically and didn't care if he killed both of them in an accident.
"(She) stated Hernandez is a hostile person with anger management issues," wrote Conyers Cpl. Everett Searcy.
She tried to call for help on her cellphone, but Hernandez allegedly took her phone away, according to the report. Hernandez also threatened to kidnap her three children. Hernandez isn't biologically related to any of the children.
At some point, when Hernandez stopped the vehicle due to traffic on West Avenue, the woman jumped out the vehicle and ran to a nearby store to call 9-1-1. She waited there for police to arrive.
Hernandez drove away, but he returned to the area as the woman was talking to police. She spotted his silver Honda Ridgeline without a license plate passing by and told police.
The police officers got in their vehicles and began to pursue the pickup truck down West Avenue, past the Rockdale Plaza Shopping Center. The officers activated their patrol lights, but Hernandez refused to stop, according to the report.
"Nereo failed to yield to my patrol cars emergency equipment, and instead accelerated past 70 mph as we traveled down the ramp and onto Interstate 20 westbound," wrote McGinnis, who also stated he activated his police siren. "About (half) of a mile to one mile west of West Avenue, Nereo slowed his vehicle and eventually came to a stop in the emergency lane on the interstate."
Hernandez was taken into police custody at gunpoint without incident. He is currently in the Rockdale County Jail. He's also being charged with driving without a license, a misdemeanor and hindering a person attempting to make an emergency call, a felony.
Conyers Police spokesperson Kim Lucas says that Hernandez has been deported from the country before. Since he was arrested, his fingerprints have been flagged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration, and "he should get deported again," she says.
