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Man Faces Charges After Allegedly Trying To Abduct IUP Student

INDIANA COUNTY (KDKA) – Already in the country illegally, police say Catalino Hernandez Vijil now faces charges for attempting to abduct a female IUP student.

Indiana Borough Police say it was around 4:30 a.m. when a female student was heading home after spending time with some friends.

Just as she got to the South Carpenter Street-Philadelphia Street area, she was attacked.
"He was up and just grabbed her from behind as she was walking away," said Indiana Borough Police Det. John Scherf.

The suspect, Hernandez Vijil, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, and a friend were cruising around Indiana when they spotted the girl all alone.

"According to the driver of the vehicle, they were driving around town, the suspect indicated hey, that's one of my girls," Scherf said. "The driver thought he was gonna pick her up and give her a ride."

But the victim and suspect never met. Hernandez Vijil struggled with the girl, trying to drag her toward the vehicle.

"His only intent was to get her in the car and take her from her normal act of walking down the street," Scherf said.

The girl fought, screamed and kicked and took off. She was able to describe her attacker, police started looking around and leads led to Hernandez Vijil.

He told police he'd been drinking at a popular Indiana spot. Police used video from the bar to show the victim, she identified Hernandez Vijil and he was picked up at the Chinese restaurant where he works.

"He was very intoxicated and doesn't remember a large majority of the evening," Scherf said.
The female victim was emotionally shaken up, but is otherwise OK.

Her alleged attacker faces attempted kidnaping, assault and other criminal charges.

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