Man remains at large more than a week after assault
By:Alec Moore
Police are still searching for one of three men charged in connection with the June 18 abduction and sexual assault of a Hillsborough woman in a wooded area near the Beekman Gardens apartments.
Maximino Garcia, 20; Nicholas Garcia, 21; and Angel Colon, 30, all of Beekman Gardens, were each charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping and simple assault.
The charges were filed June 19, one day after the assault occurred.
The victim was treated for injuries at the Somerset Medical Center. She has since been released from the hospital.
Maximino and Nicholas Garcia are currently being held at the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail for each. Mr. Colon remains at large.
According to Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest, the 35-year-old victim was abducted by the three men, sometime between 10:30 and 11 p.m., while she was outside her Beekman Gardens apartment with her cat.
The three men then forcibly took the victim to a wooded area near Gemini Drive and Capricorn Drive, where she was sexually assaulted. No weapons were involved.
One of the men held the woman to the ground, while a second man held his hand over her mouth. The third man then sexually assaulted the victim.
At approximately 10:37 p.m., Hillsborough police received a report from a Beekman Gardens resident of a woman screaming. Police searched the wooded area where the screams were heard but no one was found.
Authorities identified the three suspects after the victim recalled seeing a photo of a man who had been with the suspects when they initially approached her outside her apartment on a friend’s digital camera.
Although the fourth man fled when the other three grabbed the victim, he was able to provide police with the identities of the others involved.
Prosecutor Forrest and Chief Gazaway ask anyone who may have information on the assault to please contact the Hillsborough Police Department at 369-4323 or the Somerset County Sex Crimes Unit at 575-3300 or the Prosecutor’s TIPS line at (888) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.