“I’m pleased to announce that it has come to a successful end and the children are safe,” said Berks County District Attorney John Adams.
West Reading Police say that Hostyn Perez-Corza, 23, took 6-year-old Dania Perez and 8-year-old Janeth Perez from their West Reading, Berks County, Pa. home during a violent incident Thursday night launching a statewide Amber Alert.
Pennsylvania State Police issued the alert after Perez-Corza allegedly put a handgun to the girls' mother. Police Det. Joseph Brown says Perez-Corza put a large handgun to girls' mother head when the woman arrived at a Chestnut Street home around 9 p.m.
Brown said that a preliminary investigation showed that Perez-Corza intended to kill the mother and even searched for her after she left the home.
The mother, who wasn't identified, fled and notified police around 10:45 p.m. that she was threatened by Perez-Corza, Brown said.
When officers got to the home, Perez-Corza and the girls were gone.
Police considered Perez-Corza to be armed and dangerous. They described Perez-Corza as a 6-foot-2-inches tall, 170-pounds with black hair and brown eyes, abducted the girls in a white 1999 Ford Expedition with Pa. plate JJZ-5836, according to police.
A person noticed a similar looking SUV outside the Quality Inn Airport on Bernville Road, near the Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pa. -- about four miles from the home -- around 8:45 a.m. Friday.
"Further investigation by the Bern Township Police revealed that the suspect had booked a room at the hotel last night and was staying there," Brown said.
As police secured the area to take in the suspect in he left the room to try and checkout He was seen walking down a hallway with the girls.
"A struggle ensued," Brown said. "One of the Bern Township Police officers received a minor (hand) injury."
The girls weren't harmed and in good spirits, Brown said.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were involved in the case because Perez-Corza was previously deported and had returned to the country illegally, Brown said. He could be deported after serving any sentence he gets if he is found guilty.
After the arrest, Perez-Corza was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and making terroristic threats charges, according to court records.
Police hoped to recover the gun once they got a search warrant.
The girls' mother stayed with family friends during the search. Both girls, Wyomissing Hills Elementary School students, were back with their mother Friday morning.