Hearing Continued for Witness Intimidation, Burglary Suspect

A Philadelphia man accused of intimidating a witness to stop her from cooperating in two pending court cases against him, even allegedly breaking into her home to harass her, had his preliminary hearing continued for a second time Thursday.

Terry Mendez, of the 900 block of Bridge Street, Philadelphia, will face a felony burglary charge and additional charges at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 8, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.

Mendez is free on $10,000 unsecured bail, according to court records.

On May 10, 2012, Lansdale Police were contacted by a woman on the 700 block of Pennbrook Avenue to report an ongoing problem with Mendez, a former acquaintance, according to an affidavit.

The resident had previously filed two police reports against Mendez, in which Mendez is accused of taking her vehicle from her home with her authorization, according to an affidavit.

These alleged incidents occurred on Sept. 17, 2011 and Sept. 20, 2011, but the complainant did not file a report on the second incident until Sept. 30, 2011, police said.

Police said the complainant was allegedly harassed by Mendez over the first incident and was fearful about retaliation.

After the first incident, Mendez allegedly told the woman his "homey knows her number and her house," according to the affidavit.

He allegedly told her that if he went to jail, then "her number would go up," according to the affidavit. 

The woman's adult son then received a phone call telling him to "watch his back," according to the affidavit.

Criminal charges were eventually filed against Mendez for the two incidents, police said.

On March 15, 2012, Mendez failed to appear at his preliminary hearing, police said. Mendez was then arrested on a failure to appear warrant and sent to Montgomery County prison, police said.

Around May 9, 2012, the complainant began receiving a series of phone calls from a number she did not recognize. She then answered one of the calls and found Mendez was allegedly calling her, police said.

She told Mendez to leave her alone and not to have further contact with her, according to the affidavit.

In the early morning hours of May 10, 2012, the woman woke up to find Mendez allegedly standing in her bedroom, according to the affidavit.

Mendez allegedly told her, "See how easy it was for me to get in here?" accordin to the affidavit.

The woman told police she was too scared at the time to call 9-1-1. She gave Mendez a ride to the train station, so he could go home, police said.

Mendez allegedly continued to tell the woman that she needed to go with him to the courthouse  and drop all of the charges, according to the affidavit.

The woman believed Mendez got into her home through an open first-floor window, police said.

She told police she was intimidated by Mendez's alleged behavior and that he was directly pressuring her to stop cooperating in the two court cases, according to the affidavit.

The woman continues to fear Mendez will return to her home and escalate in his alleged harassing behavior, police said.