NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – An illegal immigrant living in New Orleans is set to stand trial after allegedly keeping what’s been described as a “house of horrors” and abducting a woman he became obsessed with.
Mario Perez-Roque, a 57-year-old illegal immigrant, is facing trial for second degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping after he sequestered a 37-year-old woman, binding and gagging her with a bag over her head.
Perez, who worked with the woman at the New Orleans Superdome, had first used a phony story about having to be at work early in the morning to kidnap the victim, according to NOLA.com.
Perez picked the woman up from her home, drove to the Superdome and then acted surprised when no one was there. Perez then took the woman back to his home and held her there for almost 24 hours.
“He said, ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ and held her for almost 24 hours,” a police detective told the court last year during a hearing.
Once the woman was able to escape the following day in the afternoon, she fled from the house and said she was too scared to report the incident to police at the time.
Then, the second time the woman was abducted, Perez and another man allegedly went to her apartment as she was leaving, walked up behind her, threw a bag over her head and as she tried to fight back, they gagged her and put her in a car.
After being taken to Perez’s home, the woman said she was bound to a chair and tied up, as the men threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate.
Perez said he was going to take the other man home and told the woman to stay put. After the two left the home, the woman unbound herself from the restraints and found a photo of herself in Perez’s home.
The woman darted out of the house, leaving her purse behind, but Perez was nearby and attempted to get the woman to go back to his house with her, saying he would not hurt her if she cooperated.
Gary Messina, a pedestrian close by, saw the woman trying to get away from Perez, prompting him to flee in his vehicle.
After learning of the incident, police searched Perez’s home, telling the media at the time of the horrors that they found, as NOLA.com reported:
Investigators who searched Perez-Roque’s home after the alleged kidnapping discovered a disturbing set-up in the rear apartment of the Mid-City shotgun double in the 100 block of North Lopez Street. They found a chair with restraints, an insulated chamber hidden underneath a bed, false walls and a two-way mirror in the bathroom, Kenner police have said.
Detectives also uncovered two pinhole spy cameras hidden in the bathroom, one behind a mirror, and the other behind an electrical outlet cover. Kenner Police Department Spokesman Lt. Brian McGregor called the apartment a “house of horrors.”
This is not the first time Perez has been in trouble with the law. In fact, he has a long, violent history. Perez was previously convicted for attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox told Breitbart Texas that the agency does have a detainer on the man, though it is unclear whether or not Orleans Parish will cooperate with the notification, as the city of New Orleans is classified as a sanctuary city.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.