Brother of Deceased NFL Star Arrested After Police Say He Threw a Brick Containing a Bizarre Message at ESPN HQ
The older brother of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez has been arrested after an incident in which a brick was thrown onto the property of ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
Dennis “D.J.” Hernandez, a former football player at the University of Connecticut, was arrested Thursday, according to WFSB-TV in Hartford, citing a report from Bristol police.
The report said an individual arrived at the sports media company’s headquarters that day via Uber, threw an object onto the property and left.
Bristol police said they also received an anonymous tip saying Hernandez wanted to damage windows at both ESPN and the Connecticut State Capitol, which is in Hartford.
Officers went to the headquarters of “the Worldwide Leader in Sports” and recovered a plastic bag in which there was a note attached to a brick.
“To all media outlets, it’s about time you all realeyes the affect media has on all family members. Since you’re a wold wide leader, maybe you could lead how media and messages are delivered brick by brick. Clean it up,” the note said.
Police said the note was signed, “Yours truly, Dennis J. Hernandez.”
Hernandez, 36, was arrested on a second-degree charge of breach of peace.
Dennis Hernandez was arrested last week after allegedly throwing a brick at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol. https://t.co/gCMtxJDFJ3
— WFSB Channel 3 (@WFSBnews) March 28, 2023
TMZ reported that after police contacted Hernandez, he said he “didn’t wish to speak about the incident.”
Police said they told him he would face a trespassing charge if he returned to ESPN, and Hernandez “stated he understood,” according to the report.
Hernandez was sought by police in Cheshire, Connecticut, for an incident March 8 in which he allegedly was “driving erratically and at high rates of speed — at one point traveling through grass fields in front of the Cheshire Correctional Institution,” according to TMZ.
When officers attempted to pull Hernandez over, he ran a red light and sped away from them, the report said.
According to police, his mother, Terri Hernandez, told them her son had “been acting very strange and she believed he needed to be mentally evaluated at a hospital.”
Police in Bristol eventually detained Hernandez “after a brief foot chase,” TMZ reported. Officers said described the incident as a bipolar episode in which Hernandez had been trying to get arrested because “he no longer wanted to stay at his mom’s house.”
He was then committed to Bristol Hospital.
According to WFSB, following Hernandez’s arrest Thursday, he was turned over to Cheshire police and charged with reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, failure to drive right, failure to maintain lane, and failure to obey traffic control signal in connection with that incident.
Hernandez is set to appear in court April 6 and 13, the report said.
Aaron Hernandez played tight end for the New England Patriots, racking up 175 receptions for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns over three seasons, before he was arrested for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.
In 2015, the former University of Florida star was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Hernandez was founded dead in his cell in 2017. His death was ruled a suicide.
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