New York Daily News

‘Bail reform’ kid is nabbed again

- BY THOMAS TRACY

Pedro Hernandez, who became a bailreform darling after he spent a year at Rikers Island because he was unable to post the money needed for his freedom, was arrested Wednesday for driving with a suspended license, police said.

It is the third time he’s been arrested for driving without a valid license in the past two years, sources said.

Cops stopped Hernandez, 19, shortly after noon after he was seen driving a BMW with no front license plate on Bronxwood Ave. near E. 213th St. in Williamsbr­idge. The car’s rear license plate didn’t match the vehicle and may have been stolen, police sources said. When cops ran his driver’s license, they realized it was suspended.

Cops charged him with driving on a suspended license as well as a license plate violation. An arraignmen­t was pending Wednesday night.

The arrest comes two months after Hernandez received a sweetheart deal on a 2015 robbery charge. A Bronx Criminal Court judge agreed in October that the charges against Hernandez would be dismissed if he proves that he has taken a few college courses.

Hernandez’s attorney Alex Spiro was quick to defend his client Wednesday.

“If this is even a legitimate arrest then it is at most for a petty offense because there is some confusion over his driver’s license,” Spiro said. “It can be disorganiz­ing for a teenager to be falsely arrested a dozen times and locked away on Rikers Island for more than a year.”

Hernandez became a poster boy for bail reform after spending a year behind bars for an unrelated 2015 shooting, unable to post bail that started at $250,000 and was reduced to $100,000.

He was freed when the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights charity paid his bond.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States