Police Arrest Man for Attempting to Ram Car into Police Vehicle
Published on September 30, 2021
Palo Alto, CA – Police arrested a man last week who unsuccessfully attempted to provoke a confrontation with police, but soon thereafter escalated his behavior by attempting to drive his vehicle into an occupied police cruiser.
On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, at about 3:59 p.m., a police supervisor on routine patrol was driving a marked police vehicle southbound in the 1400 block of El Camino Real. A vehicle pulled up next to the cruiser, and the driver began shouting obscenities at the supervisor. There had been no prior contact between the two parties and they were not known to each other. The supervisor slowed down, hoping the suspect would drive away from them, but instead, the suspect abruptly and unsafely changed lanes to pull in front of the police vehicle. The suspect then stopped his car in the roadway and got out to challenge the supervisor, continuing to shout obscenities.
Other officers arrived to assist while the suspect paced back and forth in the roadway. After a few minutes of attempting to de-escalate the situation, the supervisor made the decision for the officers to leave the scene, as the suspect was not requesting any assistance and instead appeared to be intent on provoking a confrontation with officers. All police personnel left the scene and drove away, and the supervisor asked for the involved officers to meet up in a nearby parking lot (located in the opposite direction from which the suspect had been traveling) to debrief the incident.
One of the departing officers, who was also in a marked police vehicle, pulled into the left turn lane from southbound El Camino Real to eastbound Park Boulevard and stopped at a red signal. The suspect, who at that point had gotten back into his car as well, chose to pull in behind that officer and continued to shout obscenities and make gestures out of his window. Other police vehicles pulled in behind the suspect in the turn lane, all with the intent of meeting the supervisor at the nearby parking lot to debrief.
Once the signal light changed to green, the first officer made a U-turn to head northbound on El Camino Real, and the suspect followed him, then pulled up quickly to the officer in an adjacent lane. The suspect then abruptly swerved his vehicle into the officer’s lane, aiming directly at the driver’s door of the police vehicle. The officer had to make an evasive maneuver to avoid being struck and almost drove off the roadway as a result.
Other officers behind the suspect witnessed the attempted collision, which amounted to an assault with a deadly weapon (the weapon being the suspect’s vehicle). Those other officers made a vehicle stop on the suspect a short distance away. The suspect immediately exited his vehicle and continued to challenge the police and shout obscenities. Police gave the suspect arrest commands, with which he initially complied, but he soon pulled away, clenched his fists, and took a fighting stance.
Officers continued to try to de-escalate the situation by speaking with the man and attempting to negotiate a compliant arrest. The man refused to comply, and when it appeared he was going to attempt to flee on foot, officers were forced to move in and attempt to take him into custody. The suspect physically resisted the officers’ attempts to arrest him, but eventually, officers were able to handcuff him using physical strength alone.
As a result of struggling with the officers, the suspect sustained a scrape on his head and a scrape on one shoulder. Personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department transported the suspect to a local hospital for medical treatment. Four officers received minor scrapes and cuts; two of them were treated at a local hospital for those injuries and released.
The ensuing investigation revealed that the suspect had been driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Officers found numerous open and partially-consumed cans of beer in the front passenger seat of the suspect’s vehicle (a black 2019 Lincoln MKT sport utility vehicle), as well as marijuana cigarettes in the center console.
Police do not know what prompted the suspect’s behavior towards them.
Police booked 28-year-old Ismael Hernandez Rodriguez of San Jose into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for assault with a deadly weapon (a felony), resisting arrest (a misdemeanor), and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (also a misdemeanor). His booking photo is attached to this release.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.