Rape Trial Delayed After Defendant Allegedly Cuts Off GPS Monitor, Fails to Appear in Court

Lawyers, a judge and legal personnel arrived early Thursday morning to Courtroom 19 in Baltimore County Circuit Court for the start of a rape trial. Fourteen jurors waited in a back room, ready for opening statements.

The defendant, however, was nowhere to be found.

German Perez-Hernandez, 41, of Glen Burnie, had been out of jail on pretrial release while awaiting his day in court.

At 10:44 p.m. Wednesday, on the eve of the trial date, the monitoring company responsible for keeping track of Perez-Hernandez received a notice that his GPS device had been tampered with.

WatchTower, the company responsible for keeping track of Perez-Hernandez, reported that the device was pinging on East Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie, on the side of the road.

“It appears that Mr. Perez-Hernandez has completely cut off his GPS monitoring device and thrown it on the side of the road, where it remains,” Judge Stacy Mayer said Thursday morning.

Mayer waited more than an hour for the defendant to show up, or for his attorney or someone to make contact with him to see if there was some innocent explanation for his tardiness and the tampering.

By 9:45 a.m., Perez-Hernandez had not materialized or made contact, so Mayer issued a warrant for his arrest.

Perez-Hernandez had been on pretrial release since Oct. 9, 2025, according to court documents.

Baltimore County Police had arrested him April 24, 2025, at an apartment on Fellowship Court in West Towson. A woman who told police she was his ex-girlfriend said Perez-Hernandez had been asleep in a separate bedroom of the apartment but came into her room uninvited around 3:30 a.m.

She told police he cut off her shorts and underwear with a knife, removed her sweatshirt, and raped her.

“The victim stated after the sexual assault, the suspect held the victim at knifepoint and forced her to delete all the contents from her cellphone,” according to police documents.

She said he took her phone, computer, and watch “because he wanted to scan through it to see who she's been talking to.”

Once officers arrived, Perez-Hernandez tried to flee through a back sliding door of the apartment, police said.

Perez-Hernandez told officers in a police interview that the sex had been consensual.

“The suspect stated he thought he and the victim's relationship was good. He does not know why she's doing this to him,” police wrote in charging documents.

Perez-Hernandez is charged with first-degree rape with a dangerous weapon, assault, armed robbery, theft, and other related charges.

Defense attorney Asher Weinberg asked Judge Mayer to consider going forward with the case without his client present.

“We would ask the court to consider trial in absentia,” he said. “Counsel is ready. The state is ready. A whole lot of people—a hundred people yesterday—spent all day here yesterday. Fourteen of those people showed up this morning prepared to try the case. Your Honor is prepared to try the case.”

Weinberg said Perez-Hernandez knew the trial was set to start Thursday and knew what time to arrive.

“We don’t know why he’s not here,” he said. “If he did remove the bracelet and abscond, that is him voluntarily removing himself...and it is the court’s discretion to allow the trial to continue or go on or to start.”

Because the jury had been selected but not sworn in, the prosecution opted not to continue without the defendant being present.

“I have too much concern regarding potential constitutional issues and ramifications by moving forward at this stage without the defendant being present,” Assistant State’s Attorney John Magee said.

Mayer issued a bench warrant for Perez-Hernandez’s arrest and said all previous pretrial conditions are revoked. Once he is located, Mayer said, he is to remain jailed until he can be brought before her in court.

Perez-Hernandez is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.