Danville Deputy Posts Bail; Charged With 2 Felonies: Report

CONTRA COSTA, CA — Contra Costa County sheriff's Deputy Andrew Hall was booked into jail on felony charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semi-automatic weapon in the fatal shooting of Laudemer Arboleda, 33, in Danville.

He was booked Thursday evening into the Martinez Detention Facility, Bay Area News Group reported. Hall's bail was set at $220,000 and he was bailed out of jail minutes after turning himself in, the paper reported.

That's the same jail where Hall previously worked and was accused by an inmate of excessive force in 2014. The sheriff's office investigated and cleared Hall of wrongdoing.

Hall faces up to 42 years in state prison if convicted in the Arboleda shooting, Becton said.

The sheriff's office has not responded to requests for comment from Patch.

The day before, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton announced that Hall was charged in the shooting death of Arboleda, who was shot nine times "without lawful excuse or justification," endangering the lives of other deputies and members of the public in the area.

No date for arraignment had been set as of Wednesday's announcement.

The charges included enhancements for Hall's use of his gun, a .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to the district attorney's office. Enhancements can be tacked onto charges to increase a punishment.

Hall's attorneys will "vigorously defend Deputy Hall and also fight to ensure his constitutional right to due process in this environment," Hall's attorney, Harry Stern, said in a statement.

Hall, who appears to be white, was assigned to the Danville Police Department when he fatally shot Arboleda, a Filipino Newark resident. The town of Danville contracts with the sheriff's office to provide policing services in the area.

Arboleda was leading law enforcement on a slow-speed car chase through the town when Hall and another officer stopped their cars in the middle of the road in an attempt to stop Arboleda from driving into a nearby intersection.

Arboleda began to drive through a small gap in between the officers' cars when Hall stepped out of his car, ran around the back of the car and into Arboleda's path. After Hall shot him, Arboleda continued into the intersection, crashed into another car and was found unresponsive with his foot on the gas pedal, officials said. He was later pronounced dead.

Hall has been under investigation for serious use of force three times in his nearly eight-year career with the sheriff's office, including the fatal shooting of Arboleda.

Last month he shot and killed Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old unhoused Black man, after a confrontation in the middle of a Danville intersection. Wilson pulled a folding knife on Hall and took two to three steps toward the deputy before Hall fired his gun, and Wilson crumped to the ground.

That incident remains under investigation by the sheriff's and district attorney's offices. The sheriff's office released video footage of the encounter Wednesday, hours ahead of Becton's announcement in the Arboleda case.

Family members have filed lawsuits related to the shootings of Arboleda and Wilson.

Hall was first investigated for serious use of force in 2014, while he was working at the Martinez Detention Facility. An inmate accused him of ramming him face-first into a door while handcuffed and punching him several times in the face and side, causing the inmate to have his lip reattached. Hall denied the inmate's account.

The incident was investigated, and the sheriff's office cleared Hall of wrongdoing. The case was never passed along to and investigated by the district attorney's office.

See also:

Danville Deputy Charged With 2 Felonies In 2018 Fatal Shooting

Sheriff's Office Releases Video Of Fatal Danville Police Shooting