A 28-year-old Salinas man accused of attempting to steal a woman’s car, nearly running a 17-year-old over with his car at Edgewater Park and stealing a gas can from a third victim before leading Foster City police officers on a high-speed car chase in March pleaded no contest to reckless evading with a vehicle Friday, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
According to prosecutors, David Hernandez’s case was deferred to the Pathways program, also known as the mental health treatment court, and Hernandez is expected to make his initial appearance in Pathways Nov. 8. Aimed at treating offenders with mental health issues, the Pathways program provides drug and alcohol treatment and housing assistance, among other resources, according to a San Mateo County Superior Court webpage.
At around 8:45 p.m. March 25, Hernandez is said to have pulled up to a woman getting gas at the Arco gas station at the intersection of Edgewater and East Hillsdale boulevards and asked her for spare change. When she said no, he drove away but returned shortly after and blocked her car with his gray Honda, according to prosecutors.
Hernandez walked up to her car and asked her if he could borrow her credit card. When she refused, he said he would have to take her car and opened her car door, which she pulled shut before reversing and driving away from the gas station, according to prosecutors.
At 9:03 p.m., a 17-year-old girl called police with reports of a man doing doughnuts with his car and almost running over pedestrians at Edgewater Park, where she was practicing soccer with teammates. Hernandez allegedly drove onto a basketball court and at the group of teens, nearly hitting the 17-year-old, according to prosecutors.
Recommended for you
As police officers responded to the scene, they got another report of a man trying to steal a bicycle and gas can nearby and arrived at the home of a 25-year-old man who said a man pulled up to his home in a gray Honda and attempted to steal his bicycle, according to prosecutors.
Hernandez is believed to have asked the man for money or one of the two cars in the man’s driveway, explaining his wife was having a baby. When the man said no, Hernandez went into his garage and grabbed a bicycle, which the man was able to pull away from him.
He allegedly proceeded to take a gas can from the man’s garage and walked back to his car when police officers arrived, according to prosecutors.
Hernandez is said to have driven away from the scene, eventually leading police officers on a 1.7-mile high-speed chase through the rain that ended near the intersection of Edgewater and East Hillsdale boulevards, where his car spun out. Hernandez allegedly got out of his car and tried to run away from the scene, but police were allegedly able to apprehend him. He allegedly spit at officers and headbutted the glass of one of the patrol vehicles, according to prosecutors.
Hernandez has been in custody on $100,000 bail, and his defense attorney Brandon Douglass was not available for comment.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.