Mark A. Hernandez is believed to be associated with Predator Poachers Bay Bay City chapter but I cannot confirnm it at this time. If anyone has this loser's mugshot, send it to iamthefallen1@yahoo.com
YouTube vigilante in Bay City pleads to misdemeanor, could have charge dismissed
Updated Oct 06, 2020; Posted Oct 06, 2020
BAY CITY, MI — A Bay City man whose vigilante videos on YouTube have gone viral has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor stemming from a confrontation with someone who was recording video of him. He eventually could have the charge dismissed under a sentencing agreement.
Mark A. Hernandez, 28, on Monday, Oct. 5, appeared before Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer and pleaded guilty to one count of assault and battery. The charge is a one-year misdemeanor.
In exchange for his plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a misdemeanor count of malicious destruction of personal property between $200 and $1,000. The prosecution also agreed Hernandez would receive a delayed sentence, meaning that he will effectively be placed on probation for a period of time. If he’s successful on the delay and complies with its terms, the charge to which he pleaded will be dismissed.
Since Feb. 1, Hernandez has posted numerous videos on YouTube of him confronting adult men who he says expected to meet a juvenile boy or girl, akin to the popular Dateline TV segment “To Catch a Predator.” The videos also feature chat logs Hernandez says are of him posing as a minor in discussions with the men as they talk about where and when to meet up.
The charge to which Hernandez pleaded to stems from an incident that occurred about 11:40 a.m. on April 11. At that time, police responded to a dispute in Bay City when a man alleged Hernandez had smashed his wife’s phone as the couple was recording images of Hernandez.
The confrontation followed Hernandez recording a meeting with the couple’s son and posting it on YouTube and social media, they said. The son is not charged with a crime, which is why MLive is not naming him or his parents.
Hernandez told police he approached the truck and recognized its occupants, having previously gone to their house to speak with the father about his son, police reports state.
Judge Janer is to sentence Hernandez at 9:45 a.m. on Nov. 5.
YouTube vigilante accused of smashing phone of woman who confronted him in Bay City
Updated Sep 02, 2020; Posted Sep 02, 2020
By Cole Waterman | Cole_Waterman@mlive.com
BAY CITY, MI — Earlier this year, a Bay City man began posting vigilante videos online, showing him meeting men he said he had lured by posing online as a minor. He has since posted more than two dozen videos on YouTube in which he publicly confronts the men.
Mark A. Hernandez says he has no plans to stop his activities although he himself is now facing two misdemeanor charges after someone confronted him. He’s accused of assault and battery and of breaking a smartphone.
Hernandez said Tuesday, Sept. 1, the incident and resulting charges “haven’t let that stop me from still exposing these people who meet minors online. I don’t believe I should stop even with the risk of getting in actual legal trouble.”
About 11:40 a.m. on April 11, police responded to a dispute in Bay City, according to reports obtained by MLive and The Bay City Times through the Freedom of Information Act. The man who had called police alleged Hernandez had smashed the caller’s wife’s phone as the couple was recording images of Hernandez.
The confrontation followed Hernandez, 28, recording a meeting with the couple’s son and posting it on YouTube and social media, they said. Thereafter, Hernandez showed up at their son’s work, the couple said.
The couple drove by Hernandez’s house and the wife used her Samsung Galaxy to record footage of it, they said.
“Mark (Hernandez) came outside and approached our vehicle,” the wife told police. “Mark started yelling at (us) and said that we were stalking him.”
As the couple continued driving slowly, Hernandez reached inside their open window, smacked the wife’s phone from her hand, and threw it to the ground, the wife said. Hernandez continued smashing the device, called the woman a slur, and threatened to knock her out, she told police.
Police also spoke with Hernandez, who was still at the scene and said he was live-streaming their interaction with his own device.
“I am the guy that goes around Bay City exposing child predators,” Hernandez told police, according to their reports. He told them he had been in his backyard that morning with his children when he noticed a truck slowly driving down an alley as a woman within it recorded him.
Hernandez told police he approached the truck and recognized its occupants, having previously gone to their house to speak with the father about his son who had appeared in one of Hernandez’s videos.
“The woman kept recording me and saying my name,” Hernandez said, adding he uses an alias online. “They recorded where I live and now were exposing my real name. I grabbed her phone and smashed it. I never touched her; I just smashed the phone.”
Authorities issued a warrant for Hernandez on April 27 and he was arrested on May 31.
Hernandez has since been arraigned on single counts of assault and battery and malicious destruction of personal property between $200 and $1,000. Both charges are misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year and 93 days in jail, respectively.
The son of the couple Hernandez posted a video of is not charged with a crime.
Since Feb. 1, Hernandez has posted numerous videos on YouTube of him confronting adult men who he says expected to meet a juvenile boy or girl, akin to the popular Dateline TV segment “To Catch a Predator.” The videos also feature chat logs Hernandez says are of him posing as a minor in discussions with the men as they talk about where and when to meet up.
While most of the videos were recorded at sites in Bay City, a few were filmed as far away as Ohio.
Hernandez’s YouTube account has 12,700 subscribers as of Sept. 1 and he has continued posting videos after being charged in connection with the April 11 incident.
At least one of Hernandez’s videos has led to criminal charges against the person depicted. Jeffrey L. Bader, 47, is charged in Tuscola County with accosting a minor for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime. Bader’s trial date in Tuscola County Circuit Court is pending.
Hernandez said Tuesday he has removed the video of him confronting the couple’s adult son from YouTube.
He is to appear in court on Oct. 5 to accept or reject a prosecution’s plea offer.
“I have the video of the incident that went down the day they came to my house and breaking the phone and stuff,” Hernandez said. “My lawyer just told me to let him take care of everything and we’ll set the record straight on the 5th of October.”
Hernandez said he has no plans to stop his YouTube activity.
“I started these videos to help spread awareness [that] there are many children that go through this kind of abuse everywhere and don’t have the voice to speak up about it. Maybe [they are] too scared; maybe [they] don’t wanna get someone in trouble. Either way, I feel exposing these ‘predators’ is potentially the voice of all the kids that are never heard,” he said.
Hernandez said he uses dating apps to meet the adults he later confronts in his videos.
“Of course, I never use minors as my decoys,” he said. “I believe if I were to do that who knows what these people would do with pictures of minors. But they contact me and eventually an age is said that is under the legal age and a lot of the time people are fine with still talking after knowing the age and we talk until a time and place is set up to meet.”
In the immediate aftermath of Hernandez’s posting of his first few videos, police discouraged him and others from making such content.
“I’d encourage everyone to not do it,” said Bay City Public Safety Deputy Director Caleb Rowell previously told MLive. “It complicates the investigation. It’s a very dangerous practice to do. I understand why you might want to do it and the motives behind it may be good, but in the end it creates problems for us, with the chain of evidence and us being able to prove our case. It’s just not safe. We’re worried someone might be doing this with good intentions and end up a victim of violence.”
Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham expressed similar sentiments.
“We warn people against being vigilantes,” Cunningham has said. “Vigilance is a good thing, but vigilantes don’t know who they’re coming up against. People may forget law enforcement officers are wearing vests and duty gear and are prepared for a situation if it turns for the worst. When a citizen is doing it, they’re a lot better off being a good witness, getting a description, and giving that information to law enforcement to let us investigate.”
Civilian-led stings could “cripple law enforcement’s investigations,” the sheriff added.
Hernandez is not facing any charges related to the production of YouTube videos.
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