A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted the suspect in last week’s attack in a wooded area of Greenport on felony rape and kidnapping charges, according to online court records.
Jose Amadeo Perez, 38, of Southold will be arraigned on the upgraded charges Friday in an appearance before Judge Barbara Kahn in Suffolk County criminal court in Riverhead, records show. The indictment will remain sealed until that time, prosecutors said.
Mr. Perez was previously charged with felony assault following the Oct. 25 incident, in which he was accused of dragging a 27-year-old woman into the woods by her hair, placing a set of cutting shears to her neck and telling her he was going to rape and kill her.
The initial charges and a victim statement attached to a criminal complaint obtained through the Southold Town Justice Court last week gave no indication a rape had occurred, though the indictment suggests some new evidence was likely presented to a grand jury.
Mr. Perez remains in custody at the County Jail in Riverside, where he is being held on $35,000 cash bail or $70,000 bond set in Southold Town Justice Court, where Judge Brian Hughes stated that Mr. Perez had been previously deported from the United States.
In her statement to police, the victim, whose name was not released due to the nature of the crime, stated that she first saw Mr. Perez about a week before the incident while she was walking to work. She said she ignored him after he passed her on his bicycle and told her, “You look good.”
Last Wednesday, the victim said in her statement, that she was walking to work east on Route 25 when she noticed Mr. Perez crossing the street and walking toward her. She said she cried as Mr. Perez dragged her while holding cutting sheers to her neck, telling her “I am going to rape, I am going to kill you,” the report states.
The victim was able to escape after a motorist stopped and yelled at Mr. Perez, officials said. When he loosened his grip, she was able to get away.
An order of protection granted last Wednesday against Mr. Perez bars him from contacting the victim. He agreed in court last week, through a Spanish interpreter, to stay away from her.
On Friday, Mr. Perez will be indicted on one count of first-degree rape with forcible compulsion and second-degree kidnapping, both class B felonies. A conviction on the rape charge carries a prison sentence of up to 25 years.