NEW CITY, N.Y. — A Garnerville man with prior convictions for rape and multiple kidnappings has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison for attempting to abduct a woman in Haverstraw last year, according to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.
Thomas E. Walsh II announced that Eduardo Hernandez, 49, was sentenced in Rockland County Court by Judge Kevin F. Russo after being convicted of second-degree kidnapping stemming from a September 2025 attack.
Prosecutors said the incident occurred Sept. 14, 2025, at about 5:25 p.m. outside a residence in the Village of Haverstraw. Hernandez allegedly grabbed a woman by the neck, held a screwdriver to her throat and attempted to prevent her escape while threatening deadly force.
Authorities said the woman resisted, broke free and called for help. Witnesses observed Hernandez flee in a vehicle and provided police with the license plate number.
Investigators located the vehicle the following morning and attempted a traffic stop in Stony Point. Hernandez fled on foot but was quickly apprehended and taken into custody, according to law enforcement officials.
The investigation was conducted by the Haverstraw Police Department with assistance from the Stony Point Police Department and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office.
The sentence marks Hernandez’s fourth major felony conviction involving violent crimes against women.
Court records show Hernandez was released from prison in March 2022 after serving approximately 19 years for a series of violent attacks committed in Rockland County in 2002 and 2004.
In one case, Hernandez pleaded guilty to first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping after abducting a 52-year-old woman in West Haverstraw in April 2004. Prosecutors said he pulled the woman into a van, sexually assaulted her, threatened to kill her and later abandoned her before fleeing.
Later that same evening, authorities said Hernandez attacked a second woman in the laundry room of an apartment complex in Haverstraw, dragging her behind dryers and attempting to restrain her. The woman fought him off and alerted police, leading to his arrest.
A subsequent DNA match connected Hernandez to an earlier 2002 kidnapping at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, where investigators said a woman was attacked while walking on a trail. Hernandez later pleaded guilty to that crime as well.
Walsh described Hernandez as a continuing threat to public safety.
“The danger that this man poses to the community cannot be understated,” Walsh said in a statement. “Three prior felony convictions for rape and kidnapping should have been enough, but this defendant chose to strike again.”
The district attorney also praised the victim in the 2025 case for her actions during the attack and credited local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors for securing the conviction.
The 2025 case was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Gerard M. Damiani III and Senior Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin DeLuca of the Special Victims Unit.
Hernandez will serve the 14-year prison sentence in state custody.
As with all criminal proceedings, the conviction was secured through the court process and is no longer an allegation.
