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Pedro Hernandez, 22, is suspected of shooting at a Mercedes on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, at 5:45 PM on Aug. 28
A New York City career criminal who was once promoted as a model child for bail reform is now wanted by police for attempted murder in a broad daylight shooting outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in downtown Manhattan.
Pedro Hernandez, 22, is suspected of shooting at a Mercedes on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street at 5:45 PM on Aug. 28.
Hernandez is said to have lost money and gold jewelry to a pair of crooks in a game of three-card monte, then lost his temper when the men refused to return lost valuables.
As the men drove off in their red Mercedes, Hernandez reportedly fired a single shot into the driver’s side door.
Police say he then got into his own car, a black BMW, and chased the Mercedes into the parking garage of the Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue, according to The New York Post.
In the garage, men then dumped Hernandez’s belongings, which he picked up before fleeing.
As the men drove off in their red Mercedes, Hernandez allegedly fired a single shot into the driver’s side door.
A New York City career criminal, once promoted as a model child for bail reform, is now wanted by police for carrying out a broad daylight shooting outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in downtown Manhattan
Hernandez is a familiar face in the New York criminal justice system.
In 2017, at age 17, he became the face of the city’s bail reform when he was sent to Rikers after he turned down a plea deal for a 2015 shooting of a 15-year-old boy at a Bronx bodega.
The deal would have released him without jail time, but he maintained his innocence and was jailed for a year on $250,000 bail pending trial.
His case received national attention and he was eventually rescued by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation after the amount was reduced to $100,000. The charges in that case were dropped before his trial when a witness refused to cooperate.
One of his priorities was a 2015 Bronx bodega shooting. Hernandez was offered a plea in the case that would have saved him jail time, but he resisted, claiming his innocence, and began serving a year on Rikers Island in 2017. while being held on a $250,000 bond for the crime.
He quickly became a celebrity for criminal justice advocates and was eventually released from prison on a reduced fee of $100,000 by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation. The charges against him were eventually dropped after a key witness refused to cooperate.
In the spring of 2019, he was arrested again and charged with a bodega robbery in which a victim suffered a cut to his face that required 15 stitches. After his arrest, he was released on $15,000 bail.
Hernandes also has three open charges against him dating back to 2019, just three of the 15 arrests he had to his name that year, according to The Post.
Police say he then got into his own car, a black BMW, and chased the Mercedes into the parking garage of the Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue, according to The New York Post.
Hernandez is said to have lost money and gold jewelry to a pair of crooks in a game of three-card monte, then lost his temper when the men refused to return lost valuables.
Hernandez and his lawyers insist he was harassed and targeted by the NYPD.
‘Mr. Hernandez has been a target of the NYPD,” Bronx Defenders attorney Julia Deutsch said in 2019: “The details of this case will come out and the truth will prevail.”
Another lawyer representing Hernandez at the time said the prison system was the only thing stopping Hernandez from living a clean life.
“If the system keeps Pedro out of the way, he’s a unique boy with a bright future,” says attorney Alex Spiro.
Hernandez currently has a lawsuit pending against the NYPD for false arrest claims, according to The Post.