A former Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with shooting at a fleeing vehicle when he responded to a call on the night of Feb. 8, the Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
Luis Hernandez Jr., 40, was charged Friday with discharging a firearm into an occupied property, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Hernandez turned himself in at the Law Enforcement Center on Friday night. He was taken to the Cumberland County Detention Center and held on a $10,000 secure bond, the Sheriff’s Office said. His first appearance is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday at the detention center.
Hernandez was fired Feb. 11 following an internal personnel investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Standards into his response to the call, the Sheriff’s Office said previously. He had been with the Sheriff’s Office since March 18, 2019.
Around 10:45 p.m. on Feb. 8, Hernandez responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle with no headlights on parked in a cul-de-sac on Mercedes Drive, the Sheriff’s Office said previously.
As Hernandez approached the car, he saw three people inside. The deputy asked the occupants to show their hands, and they complied, putting their hands out the windows, the Sheriff’s Office said. Hernandez then told a front seat passenger to exit the car, and he did, the release said. The vehicle then drove off, and Hernandez fired seven shots at the moving vehicle, the release said.
No injuries were reported.
