Man Charged with Threatening, Assaulting Grandmother

[Editor's Note: Arrest information is supplied by the . It does not indicate convictions.]

A West Haven man was arrested Monday for allegedly assaulting his 82-year-old grandmother, a Fairfield resident who lives on High Street, police said.

Police were alerted to the situation by a program coordinator at People’s United Bank, who requested a welfare check on the grandmother after noticing $20,000 had been withdrawn from the woman’s account.

The $20,000 had reportedly been cashed in checks by the woman’s grandson Andrew Hernandez, 31, of West Haven, who allegedly forged his grandmother’s signature to endorse the checks and overdrew the accounts. Police also determined he had hidden her bank statements from her.

Employees at People’s Bank asked the woman if she knew her grandson had reportedly withdrawn the money and she told them she was aware.

On May 10, Hernandez reportedly brought his grandmother to the People’s Bank branch in Stop & Shop and was visibly aggressive toward her, employees reported to police. He allegedly pushed a shopping cart into this grandmother, injuring her, police said.  

The woman reported to police after the incident that she feared for her safety and that Hernandez had allegedly stolen her car a few days earlier.

Hernandez was picked up on a PRAWN warrant by West Haven police on Monday, who served both the Fairfield warrant for assault and for the theft of the car, department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said. West Haven police also recovered the woman’s car in West Haven.

Hernandez was charged with breach of peace, assault of an elderly person, threatening, and third-degree larceny, according to the report. He was held in lieu of a combined $50,000 bond and scheduled to appear in court today.