Honduran immigrant accused of rape arrested for sex crimes and released multiple times

HERNDON, Va. – Another woman said she was attacked by the same man accused of raping a woman on a popular walking path in downtown Herndon.

Police said Tuesday they believe suspect Denis Humberto Navarette Romero had other victims. He is described as a repeat offender with a troubled past.

Romero, a Honduran citizen who is in the United States illegally, has a documented history of sexual assault and indecent exposure in the area dating back to 2022, according to Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard.

Romero was arrested and released many times. He choked a Herndon police officer while responding to a groping incident in June 2022 and was later released.

Police Chief Maggie Deboard said they charged him with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, but the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney dismissed the charge as simple assault – a misdemeanor.

“I mean, he literally put his hands around our officer’s neck and tried to strangle him, so we don’t understand that,” DeBoard said.

Romero was taken into custody once again on October 19 for indecent exposure and sentenced to 50 days behind bars, but was released 25 days early on November 14 due to Virginia’s ‘good behavior law’.

Just four days later he was arrested for raping a woman at Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Herndon.

Jennifer Pugh was the woman who filed a police report after following him home before outing herself.

“He was trying to grab my dog. Then he was trying to come after me, saying things. He didn’t speak English and then all of a sudden he started taking his stuff out,” Pugh told FOX 5. “He said, ‘There are Ring cameras everywhere, you know,’ and he didn’t care.”

ICE has not yet confirmed whether it was notified that Romero was in the country illegally following these incidents.

Both were transferred to the custody of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s website states that their policy is to “Notify ICE whenever an undocumented immigrant is taken into custody.”

“It’s frustrating because I tell the community that you should feel safe here and I believe they are safe here, I truly do, but when there are cases like this I look at it and see if there’s a part of the system that’s all working together,” DeBoard said, “if there was a way to make it work “This would never happen,” he said. “I don’t think you can point your finger anywhere to blame because it’s a collection of problems.”

The sheriff said everyone sent to the adult detention center was fingerprinted and those fingerprints were forwarded to the Commonwealth, which then forwarded them to federal law enforcement agencies.

The State’s Attorney did not announce the decision to drop the charges, but said he was prosecuted for the incident and sentenced to prison as a result.