Guatemalan national arrested for attempted carjacking on campus

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Edwin Walter Perez, 31, has been charged with attempted carjacking after allegedly grabbing the window of a car that was stopped at a traffic light on Mowry Road on the University of Florida campus.

At about 1:08 p.m. on April 7, a University of Florida Police Department officer responded to a call from the victim, who said he was stopped at a traffic light at Mowry Road and Gale Lemerand Drive when a man approached his vehicle, saying something he could not understand.

The victim said he cracked his window a few inches to speak to the man, and the man grabbed the top of the glass. He said he tried to roll up the window, but he couldn’t because the man was holding it. The victim said the man “snatched the door open” and would not let go. He was eventually able to close and lock the door, but the man kept “snatching on the cracked window and wouldn’t stop.” When the light turned green, the victim said, he hit the gas with the man still “snatching” on the window while briefly running alongside the car.

The officer spoke with Perez, who reportedly gave his name but was “incoherent and could not stay on track with a subject.” Perez reportedly said he was trying to help someone who was being kidnapped, but the officer said his statements did not make sense.

Post Miranda, Perez reportedly admitted grabbing the victim’s car window; he said four men were trying to take the vehicle, and he was trying to help.

Perez was transported to a local hospital on April 7 and was booked into the jail on April 10 on a charge of attempted carjacking without a weapon. His listed address is in Chicago, and the arrest report states that he is a citizen of Guatemala. He has no known criminal history. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $500,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.