HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Eyewitness News starts with breaking developments in a story 28/22 News first told you about on Thursday involving the arrest of Victor Perez, the now former president of the Dominican House in Hazleton for allegedly shooting a man.
On Friday Hazleton Police filed additional charges against Perez in connection with another alleged incident.
The I-team obtained a copy of a criminal complaint filed Friday against Perez. He is now facing charges of terroristic threats in connection with an alleged incident in September.
The arrest affidavit (below) filed Friday against 60-year-old, Victor Perez, the now-former president of the Dominican House of Hazleton, detailing an alleged incident at a Hazleton restaurant on September 27.
According to the court document Perez confronted the victim about comments she made about him for not completing paperwork for her. Perez allegedly told her:
“You’re going to talk about me? I’ll put you in jail, I’ll deport you, or I’ll kill you.” Perez then allegedly lifted his jacket and showed a black firearm.
This comes two days after Perez was charged with shooting Bernardo Perez. The I-team spoke exclusively with Bernardo on Thursday and his arm was bandaged from a bullet wound.
The shooting took place in the 100 block of South Vine Street. Investigators say the shooting was the end result of an ongoing feud between the two men.
Detectives say Victor confronted Bernardo regarding derogatory comments about his family that were printed in a Spanish-language newspaper published by Bernardo Perez.
Officials at the Dominican House posted a letter of apology (found below) for the shooting on its Facebook page that read in part:
”The board of Casa Dominica wants to sincerely apologize to the whole Hazleton community for this incident. We understand what happens impacts not only us but also the Greater Hazleton Community and we are deeply sorry for that.”
In that same apology letter, Dominican House officials refer to Bernardo’s newspaper articles also writing:
“We want to make it clear this is not an isolated incident. The owner of the “magazine” has been doing this for months, making derogatory remarks, accusations, and bullying, again to multiple members of this community.”
Ironically, on the same day of the shooting, Vicor Perez’s photo was on the front page of the Hazleton Standard-Speaker. The Dominican House is applying for a state grant through the city of Hazleton. It’s unclear if all of the charges against Perez could impact that grant application. The I-Team spoke with Hazleton councilman Jack Mundie about it.
“There’s a possibility of it having an impact. But technically the application is by the Dominican House, the organization, and they do a lot for the community and help people,” Mundie said.
The I-Team reached out to officials at the Dominican House for comment. We did not hear back. We also went to Victor Perez’s home and a woman told us, through the doorbell camera, that he was not commenting on the advice of his lawyer. The I-Team is still working on the story and will have more in the days ahead.
