How NYC attempted-murder suspect Pedro Hernandez became poster boy for bail reform
After repeat offender Pedro Hernandez was arrested in 2019 for the fifth time following a headline-grabbing bail-reform fight, his lawyer called the Bronx teen “a unique kid with a bright future.”
His future’s not looking so bright now. Hernandez, now 22, was arrested again on Monday — this time on an attempted-murder charge.
He had already spent a year behind bars on a 2015 shooting charge that didn’t stick. Hernandez had refused to plead guilty, but he was unable to make the $250,000 bail that was set. Supporters used his case as an example for all that was wrong with the state’s bail system. When the amount was reduced to $100,000, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights charity paid his bond.
The Bronx district attorney’s office eventually threw out the case when a crucial witness stopped cooperating and the victim couldn’t identify the gunman.
In the meantime, Hernandez was arrested five times after being released from Rikers in 2017. He was busted four times for driving with a suspended license and other motor vehicle offenses, authorities said. He was also nabbed for slashing a person during a Bronx robbery in 2019, according to police.
His lawyer Alex Spiro claimed Hernandez had been falsely arrested, with the youth saying he was being targeted by police.
“When someone has been falsely arrested as many times as Pedro, and every case has been dismissed, it doesn’t seem to warrant the comment I make over and over again,” Spiro said after the 2019 arrest. “If the system stays out of Pedro’s way, he is a unique kid with a bright future.”
But there was little explanation for Hernandez’s latest alleged missteps — getting hustled in a sidewalk game of three-card monte on Aug. 28, then taking a shot at the card game dealer outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral when it was time to pony up.
Cops arrested Hernandez on Monday for the caught-on-camera card game clash. No one was wounded by the single shot, but a man was seriously injured in a brawl that ensued.
Police said the violence broke out after Hernandez bet money and a gold chain on the game, and lost. Instead of walking away, cops said he dashed to his car to retrieve a gun.
