Gang Shooting Outside New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral; arrested young hispanic icon of penal reform
Pedro Hernández, a 23-year-old, was arrested a month later as a suspect in connection with a shootout between gang members outside New York’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
He was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted assault and homicide, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment over the shooting in broad daylight at 4:50 p.m. on Aug. 28, in a confrontation involving two groups under scaffolding on E. 50th St. near Madison Ave.
Being a teenager, in 2015 Hernandez became a cause celebre for bail reform after spending a year behind bars because he couldn’t post bail on a shooting charge. The amount was initially set at $250,000, but was reduced to $100,000. He was released when the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights charity posted his bail.
The Bronx district attorney’s office later dropped the case when a crucial witness became uncooperative and the victim was unable to identify the gunman. In the history of him Hernández he has been arrested five more times since he was released from Rikers in 2017, narrowed down Daily News.
In 2020 the penal reform became a reality. In the recent past, various analysts, union leaders, politicians such as Mayor Eric Adams and the citizens themselves have linked it to the rise of violence in the city.
In the August incident, one of those present apparently “earned” the gold chain of Hernández in a game, but he was not happy and demanded that it be returned to him, a police source said. The winner refused to return the piece of jewelry, at which point Hernandez He approached a black BMW, pulled a gun from inside, and fired a single shot.
“The guy started running and then they started chasing each other around the block,” recalled a bellhop from a nearby hotel. “Everyone started running down the street…mostly tourists and a few New Yorkers.”
The men got into their cars and raced around the block, with the BMW chasing a Mercedes into a nearby parking lot, witnesses said. One man got out of each car and the two fought for a few seconds before returning to their vehicles and driving away.
A 29-year-old man was seriously injured. in the fight. A warrant for Hernandez’s arrest had been issued weeks ago, but he evaded authorities until police detained him Monday, shortly after plans for him to turn himself in fell through, NYPD sources said.
Hernández refused to answer questions from the press about his arrest. In his history it has been arrested four times for driving on a suspended license and other related offenses with motorized vehicles, authorities said.
He was also arrested for stabbing someone during a robbery in the Bronx in 2019, police said. She previously sued the NYPD over allegations of false arrest.
- NJ fulfilled the dream of many in New York: penal reform to face armed violence
