November 22 – Santa Barbara County After one has been engaged in a criminal violation, arrested, jailed, tried in a court of law, convicted of that crime, sentenced to state prison for that crime, served the prescribed amount of time, and then ultimately released from custody and placed on parole for a period of time, a reasonable person might be very careful not to commit any further crimes simply to avoid repeating that difficult cycle and winding up behind bars once again.
It appears that Antonino Alexis Hernandez, 30, may not be that “reasonable person” if allegations of his activities on the evening of November 20th bear any resemblance to the truth of events occurring on the streets of Santa Maria at approximately 8:45 p.m.
It was at that time, according to Santa Maria Police Department spokesman Sgt. Steve Lopez, Hernandez summarily climbed into a truck being used by a sub-contracted road maintenance crew and made a sincere effort to drive away with it. Perhaps realizing that without the company truck the crew would be walking back to the office with some explaining to do, the driver responsible for the vehicle “contacted Hernandez and prevented him from driving away,” Lopez euphemistically reported.
At that point things became personal and combative, as Hernandez assaulted the driver, striking him. 911 Emergency calls soon brought black-and-whites to the scene, officers arrived to find the driver’s co-workers had prevented the theft of their truck and physically detained Hernandez.
Hernandez was taken into custody and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on suspicion of car-jacking and parole violation.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
