Innocent man arrested, jailed twice because of name

OLIVEHURST, Calif. -- Two times, Gilberto Hernandez has been arrested and thrown in jail for crimes he didn't commit -- crimes that were allegedly committed by another man, who, to Hernandez's dismay, shares his name.

Even so, according to CBS Sacramento, the innocent Gilberto Hernandez is on the hook for $5,000 bail because of his two arrests.

Pulled over for a broken tail light in Williams, Gilberto Hernandez was booked into the Colusa County Jail, the station reported.

"The guy grabbed me, and threw me in the back of the car," Gilberto said.

He was arrested on an outstanding warrant for fleeing before being sentenced for domestic violence.

"You got the wrong person. This is a mistake," Gilberto said he told police.

It wasn't the first time Gilberto had been mistakenly arrested, CBS Sacramento reported.

Seven years earlier, the station says, he was wrongfully arrested in Southern California on the same exact domestic violence warrant. Although it singled out another Gilberto Hernandez, the two men even shared the same birth date.

Gilberto Hernandez, of Olivehurst, Calif., is a father of five, and said he has a clean record. During both arrests, he said the officers at the jails would not listen when he insisted he was innocent.

"[The officers] said I was the person they're looking for," Gilberto told the station.

During his second arrest, CBS Sacramento reported, he said he was told he would have to sit in the Colusa County Jail for days, until he could be transferred to Santa Clara County, where the warrant was originally issued.

Afraid he would lose his job as an appliance repairman, Gilberto felt he had no choice but to pay bail.

"That should never happen," said Bill Genego, a civil rights attorney. "They should have been more responsive to his protests and taken the action necessary, before he had to post bail," Genego told the station.

According to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, mistaken identity arrests happen almost every day.

Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness told CBS Sacramento if officers think there's a chance someone is dangerous and has felony warrants, the cops can't just let the person go.

"It's not uncommon for people to lie to the police {about their identity]," McGinness said.

"Throughout my entire career, if you have a person whose first, middle and last [name] matched (the warrant) -- and date of birth matched, there was never a question that was the person for whom the warrant was issued," McGinness told CBS Sacramento.

"So, if I share the same name and same birthdate as a crook, there's a chance I could end up in jail if I get pulled over?," CBS Sacramento asked the sheriff.

"Yeah, you could suffer some consequences for that," McGinness responded.

In patrol cars, the station notes, police often have access to DMV photos and information including height, weight, eye and hair color. So any cases of mistaken identity should be cleared up pretty quickly, he says, once you are fingerprinted at the jail.

"How long does that normally take?," the station asked the sheriff.

"An hour at the max, not very long," said McGinness.

But, Gilberto Hernandez -- the innocent one -- said he sat in the Colusa County Jail for six hours before making bail.

Eve after being fingerprinted, he says officials wouldn't let him go.

What would prevent the innocent Gilberto Hernandez from being arrested again?

Santa Clara County issued him a letter that he can carry with him stating the felony warrant does not belong to him.

"Is it reasonable to expect this guy to carry around a letter for the rest of his life?," CBS Sacramento asked Sheriff McGinness.

"Reasonable, I don't know. He certainly has motivation to do so. I certainly would," McGinness said.

According to the station, Santa Clara County confirmed there were other people named Gilberto Hernandez that have also faced scrutiny over the same arrest warrant.

CBS Sacramento says the bail bonds company in the case agreed to waive $1800 of the $5,000 bond that Gilberto Hernandez of Olivehurst still had left to pay.

He still paid $3,200 in a case of mistaken identity.

While the court recommended the bond company return all the money to the mistakenly arrested Gilbert Hernandez, the bond company does not have to comply, CBS Sacramento reported.