MARTINEZ (CBS SF) — Former Police Officer Andrew Hall was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for the shooting death of Laudemer Arboleda, who was killed in a hail of bullets at the end of a 2018 slow-speed police pursuit in Danville.
After more than an hour of emotional presentencing statements from friends and relatives of Arboleda and some who supported Hall, Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler sentenced the former Danville police officer to three years in state prison for the assault and additional three years for a great bodily injury enhancement.
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Before issuing the sentence, Mockler told Hall that Arboleda “did not deserve to die for evading a police officer. That is really the crux of this.”
The family had emotionally pleaded with Mockler to impose a lengthy prison sentence.
Hall, who could have been sentenced to 17 years in prison, was convicted of assault with a firearm at his Oct. 26 trial, but the jury couldn’t reach a decision on one charge of manslaughter.
Court officers immediately placed him in custody.
Prosecutors had argued Hall used “excessive, unreasonable and unnecessary” force when he shot Arboleda nine times as he drove away from police during the slow-speed chase. Hall’s lawyers said the officer feared for his safety and asked the jury to sympathize with the officer’s need to make split-second decisions.
Danville Police officer, Andrew Hall (left) heads into his preliminary hearing at the A. F. Bray Courthouse in Martinez, Calif., on July 20, 2021 for the death of Laudemer Arboleda. (Harika Maddala/Bay City News)
Police had repeatedly tried to pull Arboleda over after residents called police reporting a suspicious person knocking on doors. The incident ended at the intersection of Diablo Road and Front Street, with two police units behind Arboleda’s gray Honda Civic, and two in front, including Hall’s.
Arboleda was trying to pull between two police cars when Hall opened fire on the front driver’s side of Arboleda’s car.
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“This is an historic moment,” said Arboleda family attorney Adante Pointer outside the courtroom shortly after the October verdict. “It is rare in this community that an officer is held accountable. We thank the jury for reaching the decision and providing a sense of justice now we just want the entire slice.”
Raw Video: Laudemer Arboleda Family Attorney Remarks Following Verdict in Andrew Hall Trial
Pointer added, Mr. Hall is be held accountable to the maximum extent under that law, which we understand is 17 years, and he should have to serve each one in a California penitentiary.”
Shortly after the October verdict, Contra Costa County agreed to pay $4.9 million to Arboleda’s family to settle a lawsuit.
An initial investigation by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office — which contracts with Danville for police services — cleared Hall of any wrongdoing.
Charges weren’t filed in the Arboleda case until Hall made more news by shooting and killing another man in March 2021 in Danville. Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old transient, died in the shooting near the Sycamore Valley Road overpass of Interstate Highway 680.
Police say Wilson approached Hall with a knife, which seems to be confirmed in bodycam video. Judge Terri Mockler ruled the Wilson case couldn’t be used against Hall during the Arboleda trial.
Authorities are still investigating the second shooting, and no charges have been filed.
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© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.