TULARE CA– On August 15th, at approximately 8:15 PM, A Tulare Police Sergeant was sitting in his patrol car backed into a parking space that is directly against the rear of Tulare Police Department Headquarters.
He was preparing to drive away from the PD when a vehicle that was traveling westbound on Inyo Ave suddenly accelerated and made an abrupt turn into the driveway of Tulare PD and collided into the patrol car that the sergeant was sitting in.
The sergeant immediately jumped out his patrol car believing that this was an intentional act because he heard the vehicle accelerate and turn directly towards him. Both occupants of the suspect vehicle immediately exited the car and the male driver was seen to be climbing in and out of the suspect vehicle and appeared to be reaching for something in the back seat. The sergeant drew his handgun and ordered both subjects to “get on the ground”. The female on the passenger side immediately complied but the male driver was at first non-compliant and was noted to be “holding something black” in his hand. The sergeant used his patrol car and the suspect vehicle as cover and continued to order the suspect down on the ground until he finally complied.
Responding officers arrived and secured both subjects in physical restraints. The male suspect was later identified as Adam Hernandez and claimed that he had a dead body in the trunk of his vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed there wasn’t a body in the trunk.
Hernandez later admitted that he purposely crashed into the patrol and that he used methamphetamine just prior.
He was later transported to the Tulare County Jail where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.