Florida deputy mistakes falling acorn for gunshot, fires into patrol car with Black man inside
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — A Florida deputy mistook the sound of a jerk hitting his patrol vehicle for a shot and fired multiple times at the SUV where a handcuffed black man was sitting in the backseat, officials said.
The man, who was questioned about stealing his girlfriend’s car, was not injured in the Nov. 12 shooting. He was taken into custody but released without charge. The officer who initiated the shooting has resigned.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office released the body camera video and an internal affairs report this week, addressing the jerk for the first time.
Investigators who viewed Deputy Jesse Hernandez’s body camera video saw an acorn fall moments before the shots were fired, an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office internal affairs report concluded. The acorn bounced off the roof of the patrol vehicle.
That morning, Hernandez, a sergeant and another deputy had responded to a call from a woman who said her boyfriend had stolen her car and was sending her threatening messages. The woman told officers the man had a gun, the report said.
Police detained the friend and searched his car after handcuffing him and placing him in the back of Hernandez’s patrol car.
That’s where he was when the jerk hit the vehicle.
As Hernandez approached the passenger door of his patrol car, he heard a popping sound that he later told investigators he thought was a gunshot. And he said he thought he had been hit.
“He began yelling several times that shots had been fired before falling to the ground and rolling,” the sheriff’s report said. “He shot at the patrol car.â€
Sergeant Beth Roberts heard the gunfire and Hernandez’s screams and also began shooting at the car, the report said.
Although the county prosecutor found no probable cause for criminal charges, the sheriff’s internal investigation determined that Hernandez’s use of force was “not objectively reasonable.” Hernandez resigned on Dec. 4, the sheriff’s office said.
Roberts’ use of deadly force was found reasonable and she was acquitted, the report shows.
Sheriff Eric Aden said he realizes the situation was “traumatic” for the suspect, and that his office has included the shooting in training for other deputies.
He also said he does not believe Hernandez acted maliciously.
“Although his actions were ultimately unjustified, we believe he felt his life was in immediate danger and that his response was based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding this fear,” Aden said.
Reviews of the case by the sheriff’s detective division and the county attorney’s office found no probable cause for criminal charges against Hernandez, who started with the agency in January 2022.