Family members of one of two men shot and killed by former Danville deputy Andrew Hall are protesting his early release from state prison Friday. No clear reason has been given for the move.
Hall was sentenced to six years in state prison in March 2022 for assault with a firearm in the killing of unarmed motorist Laudemer Arboleda in 2018.
At his sentencing it was decreed that Hall, who made headlines again in March 2021 when he shot and killed Tyrell Wilson, 32, near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate Highway 680 when Wilson advanced on him with a knife, was to spend at least 85 percent of his 5.1-year sentence behind bars.
Arboleda’s family shared a notice from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation informing them that Hall would be paroled from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center sometime today, Friday.
Case watchers joined family members in protesting Hall’s release outside the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in Martinez.
Hall shot and killed Arboleda at the end a circuitous police pursuit in Danville on Nov. 3, 2018.
Police pursued Arboleda after a resident reported Arboleda was behaving oddly when he knocked on their door. Arboleda, who had been hospitalized with mental illness earlier in the year stopped and pulled away during the pursuit until Hall blocked in Arboleda at Front and Diablo streets. Hall opened fire on Arboleda as he pulled away, firing ten shots and hitting Arboleda nine times. The Newark man’s car rolled until it hit another car. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hall’s defense team maintained the deputy opened fire to protect himself. The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with Danville for police services, cleared Hall of wrongdoing in its initial investigation and issued a brief statement following news of his release Friday.
“We welcome Officer Hall’s release because he never should have been in prison in the first place,” Sheriff David Livingston wrote. “He made a split-second decision to protect his life and the lives of others around him when he was required to use deadly force on Arboleda. Officer Hall reacted to a crazed driver who tried to ram through a police barricade.”
“It’s time we stop feeling sympathy for dangerous criminals and start supporting law-abiding Contra Costa residents and the warriors that defend them,” Livingston finished.
A spokesman for District Attorney Diana Becton was terse, saying only: “The release of an inmate from state prison is determined by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).”
He should have been put away for Tyrell Wilson too. Disgusting. Killing a man in the middle of an intersection in front of families. Not only once, but twice. David Livingston should be ashamed of himself for backing him.
“Warriors.”
It was a marginal shooting, but not one that deserved a conviction.
Firestone 11R
And he served time with good behavior. That always lets out the worst of criminals upon the public. This guy was not a criminal.
He is by definition a criminal, convicted by a jury of his peers. Clearly you don’t believe in that fundamental system of justice because you believe you find yourself on the wrong side of it. Oh, the irony! The privileged imprisoned by the justice system. Clearly you believe we need to put a stop to that.
A playwright. Get me a playwright!
David Livingston is top apologist for police misconduct. You will never improve policing in this diseased environment. He stated publicly that the victim attempted to murder Officer Hall before police witnesses had even completed their statements. That’s tampering. It’s always us vs them. The motto: “to protect and serve” sadly carries as much weight as a bumper sticker with too many of them.
Watch the video, the car was headed right for Hall for a view moments, this was a social justice prosecution by Becton.
Firestone 11R
I did watch the video. He is a Hot Dog who interjected himself into the scene when all others were being patient. His movements created the danger he needed to escape from. We may not agree that the actions are chargeable, but perhaps we agree that he is unfit based upon his temperament and his history of violent interventions.
He could have used more training.
West Hollywood 91R
I fully support the Sheriff and Hall. I am not in law enforcement but if either of these two men would have just complied with the officer they would still be alive. Thank god for police officers, they don’t get enough support from the public!!
Hall was 30+ feet away from a mentally ill man holding a knife. Not a gun, but a knife. He shot him in the head in the middle of a busy intersection with cars in full view, with families on bikes. He didn’t tase him, he shot him in the head. He wasn’t in danger, he’s trigger happy. Thank god he’s off the streets.
The man walked towards him with the knife. AND, through scientific studies the information taught at police academies throughout California is the only safe distance from a person with a knife if 21′. So, this was good shooting.
Malibu 108RS
You have to wonder if he’ll return to work in law enforcement.
Not in California, I’m sure Hall is on the do not hire list.
West Hollywood 91R