SLO County man ‘severely sliced’ victim’s face. Jury found him guilty of mayhem, assault
A Grover Beach man could serve up to life in prison for slashing another man’s face with a knife, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.
A San Luis Obispo County jury found Jeremiah Leo Hernandez, 43, guilty of aggravated mayhem, assault with a knife and causing great bodily injury, all of them violent felonies, the District Attorney’s Office said in a Friday news release.
The assault occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Jan. 24 in the 200 block of Five Cities Drive in Pismo Beach, the release said.
“Hernandez attacked the male victim with a knife, severely slicing his face from his hairline to his lower jaw, inflecting an injury that required extensive reconstructive surgery to repair,” the District Attorney’s Office said.
Jurors decided that the violent attack “indicates a serious danger to society,” prosecutors said.
Aggravation was proven by the fact that Hernandez was “lying in wait” when he attacked the man, the District Attorney’s Office said, adding that jurors also considered Hernandez’s prior convictions that were of “increasing seriousness.”
“This vicious and senseless crime will result in the permanent disfigurement of the victim and very well could have ended his life,” county District Attorney Dan Dow said in the release. “Individuals committing violent crimes in our community will be met by aggressive prosecution and personal accountability.”
Hernandez was being held Friday in San Luis Obispo County Jail custody in lieu of $75,000 bail.
He is scheduled to be sentenced July 28 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, with Judge Tim Covello presiding.
The case was investigated by the Pismo Beach Police Department with the aid of the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation. Pismo Beach Detective Sergeant Anthony Hernandez and District Attorney’s Office Senior Investigator Michael Hoier were the primary investigators, while the case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Bittner.
