Police cleared of charges in Mi Pueblo officer-involved shooting, report released

More than a year after Osmar Hernandez was shot and killed by police outside a grocery store in Salinas, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said it will not charge the officers involved. Prosecutors said the officer’s use of force was justified.

“His family told him that knife is going to get you in trouble, you need to leave it here,” Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin said. “It’s lawful and justified and a terrible, terrible tragedy,” McMillin said.

With the 911 calls, all Salinas Police officers knew that night was that Osmar Hernandez was intoxicated, swinging a knife and threatening people near the Mi Pueblo grocery store. They didn’t know he had a history with that knife and being drunk in public.

“That legal standard is that the officers have to make a really quick decision in tense and rapidly unfolding circumstances based on what they perceive and what they know at the time,” McMillin said.

The District Attorney’s report said three officers responded initially.

“Both in English and in Spanish they repeatedly ordered him to stop, drop his weapon and surrender,” McMillin said.

The report said after Hernandez refused–he was Tasered three times– only the second one knocked him to the ground.

“They tried less lethal means, they didn’t work. He still resisted and refused to comply. The next alternative once he went to grab for that knife they only had that option it appears,” Assistant District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni said.

The DA said Hernandez was within the striking distance of two feet of one of the officers

“Our officers didn’t fire at him until he reached for his knife, only at that point did they fire,” McMillin said.

Whether you agree or disagree with the DA’s report, the fact remains that Osmar Hernandez was killed on May 9th 2014. McMillin said he wished Hernandez would have complied with officers so that he could have avoided that situation and gotten help for his alcohol issues.

This case and another officer-involved shooting from last year are still being investigated by the Department of Justice for Civil Rights Violations. Those are separate from the DA’s investigation.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said no charges will be filed against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man outside a grocery story in Salinas last May.

Prosecutors who reviewed the death of Osmar Hernandez, 26, outside the Mi Pueblo on East Alisal St., said all officers were justified in their use of force. Police initially responded to a report of a man brandishing a lettuce knife.

Prosecutors said its clear Hernandez posed an imminent deadly threat when officers shot him in self-defense and defense of others.

This is the third report released by the DA’s office in four cases it reviewed involving Salinas police officers in 2014.

The DA’s report details the incident:

• Hernandez was heavily intoxicated (blood alcohol level of .25), having consumed enough alcohol so that he was three times the legal limit for driving a motor vehicle.

• Hernandez was extremely belligerent; he threatened to kill a man at a bar and was brandishing a 9 inch knife. The bartender removed the knife, only to later return it.

• He threatened numerous civilians outside the bar resulting in multiple calls to 911.

• He was yelling and acting erratically and unpredictably. He transformed an otherwise normal Friday afternoon of shopping by scores of innocent people into a chaotic, frightening, and life threatening scenario. A mother and her children fled from Hernandez in fear and hid in a store while Hernandez pursued them.

• Innocent civilians were in close proximity. Any one of them could have been harmed if officers did not act promptly and decisively.

• Hernandez repeatedly refused to comply with police orders.

• Ignoring commands, Hernandez advanced three steps toward an officer and was tased which resulted in no effect requiring the officer to deploy the taser a second time.

• An additional officer attempted to use less than lethal force to subdue Hernandez, by tasing Hernandez a third time. This did not incapacitate Hernandez or cause him to comply with lawful commands.

• At any time Hernandez could have surrendered and ended the crisis. Instead, Hernandez emphatically refused and continued to unpredictably escalate the encounter.

• Hernandez blew a kiss toward a K9 officer, saying in Spanish “Please forgive me”

• Still refusing to submit to lawful authority, when commanded to roll over on his stomach and place his hands behind his head, Hernandez instead reached for a knife in his waistband.

• When Hernandez reached for his knife, an officer, who was vulnerable to attack because he held only an empty taser, was standing next to Hernandez within striking distance and was in imminent danger of great bodily injury.

• The officers who fired made a split second decision because they feared for the safety of their fellow officer and for themselves. Most estimates placed officers as close as two feet from Hernandez when he reached for his knife.

• Under California law, the officers were under no obligation to retreat. To the contrary, they were permitted to stand their ground. They had a duty to protect themselves, their partners, and the general public.

• Hernandez was close enough to slash or stab an officer with his knife. In light of all the facts, including that Hernandez reached for his knife while disobeying commands, was intransigent and reckless, and acted unpredictably and irrationally. He was armed, dangerous, in close proximity to officers, and reached for a knife. The law requires an assessment from a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than from 20/20 hindsight.