Former Danville Officer Andrew Hall Released Early From Prison: Report

DANVILLE, CA — Former Contra Costa Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Hall, who was convicted of assault with a firearm for the 2018 death of 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda in Danville and sentenced to six years in prison, was released early, according to a message from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shared by Arboleda’s family. The family and other activists held a rally Friday afternoon outside the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office in Martinez to protest Hall’s early release, according to a report from Bay City News.

Hall was sentenced to six years in state prison in March 2022. Authorities said at the time that he would need to serve at least 85% of his sentence, or 5.1 years, according to BCN. The notice from CDCR said that Hall was being paroled from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and would be released Friday, or one or two days later. The message did not specify the reason for the early parole, BCN said.

Hall shot and killed Arboleda during a slow-speed chase in Danville 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. An internal investigation from the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office cleared Hall of any wrongdoing.

The charges were filed a month after Hall's second fatal shooting, involving Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old homeless man who was accused of pulling a knife on Hall after he responded to a call of someone throwing rocks off of a 680 overpass in Danville. Bodycam footage showed Wilson approaching Hall with a knife, according to BCN. Hall was not charged for Wilson’s death.

Hall was the subject of three investigations for serious use of force during his nearly eight years with the Sheriff’s Office. When Hall was assigned to the Martinez Detention Facility, an inmate accused him in 2014 of ramming him face-first into a door while handcuffed and of punching him several times in the face and side, causing the inmate to have his lip reattached. The incident was investigated, and Hall was cleared of wrongdoing.

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.

— Courtney Teague and Bay City News contributed to this report.