In 2018, Danville, Ca., police officer Andrew Hall leaped in front of a car making its way around a police cruiser during an attempted stop. Hall fired 9 times into the car, killing its driver, an unarmed and mentally ill man named Laudemer Arboleda. Danville police falsely claimed Laudemer was trying to run Hall over and a jury cleared him of manslaughter.
But the jury did convict Hall of felony assault—the first such conviction in the county's history—and now the family is receiving a $4.9 wrongful death settlement. Hall faces jail time.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2019, long before criminal charges were brought against Hall earlier this year. The lawsuit claimed that Hall "inexplicably opened fire" on Arboleda, who was unarmed, and that the county and town breached their duty to the public by failing to discipline Hall for the misconduct.
The Contra Costa Sheriff's Office, which has a contract to provide police services to Danville, cleared Hall of misconduct after a nine-month investigation into Arboleda's shooting.
While Hall was being investigated, Tyrell Wilson, a mentally-ill black man living rough on the streets, was unfortunate enough to encounter him while "jaywalking".
