Cops Arrest Latin King for Attempted Murder. He Was Out of Jail With 3 Pending Domestic Violence Related Cases

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — REAL News Michiana has confirmed a man arrested for attempted murder in South Bend is a verified member of the Latin Kings, according to law enforcement officials. It turns out, he was also allowed out of jail for 3 pending domestic violence related cases when this latest incident occurred. And, the latest attempted murder charge also stems from a domestic violence incident. RNM has confirmed in every incident currently pending, Max Perez was targeting the same woman.

According to court documents, on March 28th, Perez was beating the mother of his child when he was confronted by his victim’s brother. Perez then went into the back of the home in the 700 block of South Lake street, retrieved a gun and started shooting at several people, striking the victim’s brother. Police say they recovered 19 shell casings at the scene.

In August 2019, Police arrested Perez for breaking out the back window of car parked at the home of his child’s mother. Police say the car was owned by the resident’s brother. It’s unclear if that is the same brother who Perez shot on March 28th. That case is currently pending.

In October 2019, police arrested Perez for attacking the same woman. According to court documents, Perez confronted his child’s mother while she was in a parked car. Documents say Perez pulled her out of the vehicle by her hair and started to strike her. A female friend of the victim attempted to stop the attack, but a friend of Perez (another man) stopped her from intervening. That case is also still pending.

In July 2020, police arrested Perez for violating a protective order. The victim was, once again, his child’s mother. That case is also still pending. The state requested a bond of $2,000 and that Perez be put on GPS monitoring if he were to be released from jail.

Perez was also convicted of battery in 2017. According to court documents, the victim was the same woman in the other cases mentioned. Court documents show she was potentially pregnant at the time.

Perez also has prior convictions for False Informing and Conversion.

With a such a history of violence against one woman, why was he out of jail with pending cases to begin with? It seems any reasonable person would assume it was only a matter of time before he attacked his child’s mother again. RNM reached out to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office with that question. Prosecutor Kenneth Cotter and his staff did not respond.

RNM also asked the Prosecutor’s Office if Perez was on GPS monitoring at the time of the latest incident. RNM did not get a response to that question either.

One reason Perez may have been on the street and not in the St. Joseph County Jail, is due to bail reform that was instituted in St. Joseph County in 2017. A disastrous reform that has consistently put criminals back out on the street to continue to commit crimes. The South Bend Tribune wrote a glowing article about it here.