Yuma County Jail Booking Photo; Pedro Hernandez
On Wednesday, December 3rd a Yuma County Sheriff’s Deputy was investigating a report of some loose horses near County Road B and County Road 47. While attempting to locate the rightful owners of the horses, the Deputy arrived at a residence in the area only to find out that a vehicle on scene was associated with a man named Jose Santana, who had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear on a traffic citation.
The Deputy contacted a man on scene who initially provided a different name, but after conducting further investigation, confirmed him as being the man wanted in the warrant. This confirmation was in large part due to a United States permanent resident card provided by Mr. Santana, and later determined to be a forgery. Mr. Santana was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Jail for his outstanding warrant.
After being fingerprinted at the jail, it was discovered that Jose Santana was actually an alias identity and the man was confirmed to be Pedro Hernandez, a man who has been wanted by the FBI out of Los Angeles, California since late last year for distribution of meth, heroin and cocaine and dealing in firearms.
Mr. Hernandez is currently being held without bail at the Yuma County Jail for both of his outstanding warrants as well as new charges of Attempting to Influence a Public Servant, Identity Theft, Forgery, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Criminal Impersonation and Criminal Possession of a Financial Device.
Sheriff Day said, “Yuma County Sheriff’s Deputies are encouraged to look deeper into routine calls for service. The Deputy on this call did exactly that in this case, and rather than just finding the owner of the loose horses, a series of illegal activity committed by this individual was uncovered and an FBI fugitive was apprehended. I am proud that my Deputies continue to present themselves as great examples to law enforcement officers in our area, and in this case demonstrated what a little extra effort can result in.”