Danville Officer Who Killed 2 Suspects In Separate Police Shootings Booked On Manslaughter, Assault Charges
DANVILLE (CBS SF) -- Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputy Andrew Hall, charged Wednesday with manslaughter and assault in the fatal shooting of a suspect in 2018 in Danville, was booked into county jail in Martinez Thursday, authorities said.
Hall was charged on the same day the sheriff's office released a bodycam video of Hall fatally shooting another suspect last month in Danville while assigned as a police officer for the Town of Danville, which contracts police services through the sheriff's office.
Hall faces felony voluntary manslaughter and felony assault with firearm charges in the 2018 death of Laudemer Arboleda following a police chase. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said Hall was booked Thursday evening. Bay Area News Group reported that Hall immediately posted bail, which was set at $220,000.
On November 3, 2018, Arboleda was contacted by officers following reports of a suspicious person near Cottage Lane and Laurel Drive, next to Interstate Highway 680 near downtown. According to the DA's office, Arboleda drove away from officers who had initiated a traffic stop and after a chase through the downtown Danville area, Hall had stopped his patrol vehicle in front of an approaching Arboleda.
As Arboleda began to slowly maneuver between Hall's vehicle and another police vehicle, Hall ran around the rear of his vehicle and his service pistol at Arboleda, hitting him nine times, the DA's office said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
"Officer Hall used unreasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit involving Laudemer Arboleda, endangering not only Mr. Arboleda's life but the lives of his fellow officers and citizens in the immediate area," said Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton at a press conference Wednesday.
When asked why charges were filed more than two years after the shooting, Becton said, "It took time due to the backlog of prior law enforcement-involved fatal incidents my office is investigating. I am doing everything that I can to end this backlog and to ensure our independent investigations conclude in an expeditious manner."
On March 11, Hall was working as a Danville police officer when he shot Tyrell Wilson, a homeless man who had refused his orders to drop a knife after Hall confronted him in the middle of the intersection of Sycamore Valley Road and Camino Ramon. Wilson later died at a hospital.
Hall was placed on administrative leave after the shooting of Wilson but has not been charged in the case.
Earlier this month, civil rights attorney John Burris filed a federal lawsuit against Hall, the Town of Danville, and the Danville Police Department on behalf of Tyrell Wilson's family. Burris is also representing the Arboleda family in a wrongful death lawsuit against Danville and the county.
"The delay in prosecuting Hall is particularly hurtful because Hall recently shot and killed [Wilson] under very questionable circumstances," said Burris in a prepared statement Wednesday. "Wilson could be alive if Hall had been prosecuted earlier."