Former Danville Cop Sentenced To 6 Years For Fatal 2018 Shooting

DANVILLE, CA — Former Danville police officer Andrew Hall was sentenced Friday to six years in state prison in connection with a deadly shooting of a mentally ill man during a slow-speed chase.

Hall was convicted in October 2021 of assault with a firearm for the 2018 death of 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda, but came short of being convicted of voluntary manslaughter, a charge that could have led to up to 17 years in prison. Hall was initially cleared by an internal sheriff’s probe and returned to the force. In March 2021, he took the life of another mentally ill man, Tyrell Wilson, who came at him with a knife during a jaywalking stop. Wilson’s family has argued that he didn’t constitute a threat. Hall was placed on administrative leave following the Wilson incident.

Hall’s defense team has said they will appeal his case, the East Bay Times reports.

Superior Court Judge Terri Mockler said on Friday that Hall “violated” the trust of the people of Contra Costa, and a “particularly vulnerable” victim did not need to die. She also said Hall made “extremely poor choices” leading up to Arboleda’s death.

Hall shot and killed Arboleda during a slow-speed chase in 2018 that began when nearby residents reported him for wandering around the neighborhood. Police trailed Arboleda, whose family has said that he was in the midst of a mental health crisis, while he refused to pull over while driving away at six miles an hour. Bodycam footage shows Hall running around the front of his patrol car and firing into the car while backing away.

Hall’s defense team has said that he was acting in self-defense to avoid being run over.

Arboleda’s family was awarded a $4.9 million wrongful death settlement, the highest payout amount in Contra Costa County since 2015, according to KTVU.

Arboleda’s mother said in a statement Friday that she wants Hall retried for manslaughter. “"Today brings some closure to our family," she said. "Officer Andrew Hall was sentenced to 6 years in state prison. Although we will never be able to see our Laudemer again, we are grateful for some accountability to be served for Officer Hall.

"Our family has been through hell and it still hurts us till this day that it took 3 years to bring charges against him, that they tried to cover up what happened, and that the Danville Police let Officer Hall take another life of a mentally ill man, Tyrell Wilson. We still want Officer Hall to be retried on the voluntary manslaughter charge for what he did to my son. The preferential treatment shown to Hall as an officer throughout this trial has only added to our trauma."

Related:

• Former Danville Cop To Be Sentenced Friday For 2018 OIS
• Ex-Danville Officer Guilty Of Assault In Fatal Shooting