A man with a lengthy rap sheet was arrested in Midtown in connection to a shooting outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral this past summer.
Pedro Hernandez, 22, was arrested and charged with attempted murder, attempted assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
Hernandez was wanted in connection to a shooting that occurred on Aug. 28. That evening at 5:45 p.m., Hernandez was allegedly at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 50th Street playing a game of three-card monte. After losing his chain and money to two men, Hernandez allegedly demanded his property back and fired a shot at their car.
The two men refused and drove off, leading Hernandez to allegedly chased them in his SUV to the parking garage of the Palace Hotel. One of the men dropped Hernandez’s belongings, and Hernandez allegedly grabbed his stuff and fled.
Hernandez became known as the “poster boy for bail reform,” as police sources described him, for his alleged role in a 2015 shooting charge in the Bronx. He spent a year in jail because he couldn’t make bail, which was initially set at $250,000 and was reduced to $100,000. He was released on bail after the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights charity paid his bond.
The case was ultimately dropped because a key witness refused to testify.
Reports say that Hernandez has been arrested five times since his release in 2015.
