Agency says Biden administration arrested, then released suspect
Federal authorities have placed an immigration detainer on a 17-year-old Mexican national accused of savagely attacking a woman with a hammer while she jogged in a Texas park.
The incident unfolded on Nov. 13 at approximately 5 p.m., when police in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, say they responded to reports of an assault in the 2300 block of Shiloh Road, according to a Plano Police Department news release. The female victim was jogging in Bob Woodruff Park when she was ambushed by a male assailant who struck her repeatedly with a hammer before fleeing the scene.
Police say the attacker tried to duct tape the woman, but she was able to fight him off.
Paramedics transported the victim to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
In an initial update on Nov. 14, the Plano Police Department identified the suspect as Sergio Noe De Nova Duarte, who had been living in Plano, and charged him with aggravated kidnapping bodily injury, a first-degree felony. He was booked into the Collin County jail.
By Nov. 17, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had lodged an arrest detainer against Duarte, preventing his release back into the community pending federal proceedings. ICE officials described Duarte as an “illegal alien from Mexico” who had been released into the U.S. by the Biden administration in 2024 despite a prior criminal history.
According to an ICE statement, Duarte entered the U.S. legally on a B2 tourist visa in 2016 but overstayed the required departure date of Sept. 17, 2016. His criminal record dates back to 2024, when he was arrested for burglary and larceny. Following that arrest, ICE took him into custody, only for the Biden administration to release him with a notice to appear before an immigration judge in 2026, the agency said.
The hammer attack prompted the Plano Police Department to initially pursue aggravated assault charges, but the investigation quickly uncovered evidence of attempted kidnapping, leading to the upgraded felony count. “The suspect in this incident has been identified and is in custody with pending charges,” the police department noted in its assault release. “Due to the arrest of the suspect, there are no public safety concerns. This incident is under investigation by the CAPers Unit.”
ICE spokeswoman Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused the Biden administration of being at least partly culpable in the attack.
“This criminal illegal alien should have never been loose in our communities to attack this woman jogging in a park with a hammer,” said McLaughlin. “Following this illegal alien’s arrest in 2024, the Biden administration released this criminal illegal alien back into our communities. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure this criminal illegal alien is never able to prey on innocent women in our country again.”
