Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – The man charged with slashing women’s buttocks in Northern Virginia shopping malls will remain behind bars before facing trial in Fairfax County, a District Court judge ruled Wednesday.
Johnny D. Guillen Pimentel appeared for a brief court hearing just one day after U.S. Marshals brought him back to Virginia from his native Peru.
WTOP has learned new details of Guillen Pimentel’s return to local custody after his escape from the D.C. area and his January 2012 arrest by police in Peru.
Mark Espinoza, senior inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service Office of Central/South American Affairs, says after months of appeals in Peruvian courts, Guillen Pimentel was turned over to Interpol police earlier this week.
Guillen Pimentel, as a Peruvian citizen, was entitled to hearings “that usually take six months to a year,” says Espinoza.
Guillen Pimentel was handed over to the U.S. Marshal Service at the international airport in Peru.
Espinoza would not comment on the specifics of the flights, the number of marshals, or whether Guillen Pimentel was restrained during the flight aboard a regularly scheduled passenger flight that arrived at Ronald Reagan National Airport Tuesday.
“It was definitely more than one (marshal). We take into consideration the background of the defendant, the crime he’s charged with, and take the appropriate measures,” says Espinoza.
Fairfax County Police took custody of Guillen Pimentel at Reagan National and transported him to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In a series of nine attacks at Fair Oaks Mall, Tysons Corner Center, Greenbriar Shopping Center and Fairfax Towne Center, Guillen Pimentel allegedly cut the buttocks of distracted young women with a box cutter or razor. None of the victims was seriously injured.
Guillen Pimentel is charged with six counts of malicious wounding, two counts of attempted malicious wounding, and one count of forging a public document.
In August, a regional task force was established to gather information about the “serial butt slasher.” Guillen Pimentel was identified by Fairfax County police as the suspect after he left the area.
It is not clear whether the forgery charge is related to his escape to Peru.
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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
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