MADISON, Wisconsin — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested Ismael Hernandez-Padilla, a Honduran national accused of a violent Madison attack in which a woman escaped by “playing dead.” Six other individuals were also detained during the operation.
Attack on Madison Woman in September
According to 27 News (WKOW), the incident took place on September 7 when a woman told police she was walking to a gas station on Packers Avenue in Madison. She reported that a man — later identified as Hernandez-Padilla — dragged her into a vacant lot, strangled her, and punched her repeatedly.
The victim told investigators that she managed to escape by pretending to be dead until Hernandez-Padilla fled the scene.
Hernandez-Padilla is charged in Dane County with strangulation and suffocation, battery, disorderly conduct, and bail jumping in connection to that assault.
Additional Sexual Assault Charges Filed
Prosecutors also charged Hernandez-Padilla in a separate case with two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and one count of lascivious behavior, all misdemeanors. Authorities say those charges stem from a different incident involving inappropriate contact…