S.A. worker mistakenly jailed

Jose Hernandez, shown with his wife, Leisa, was arrested at his Northwest Side home Oct. 22 by Bexar County sheriff's deputies with a warrant out of Harris County for another man with the same name and date of birth. less Jose Hernandez, shown with his wife, Leisa, was arrested at his Northwest Side home Oct. 22 by Bexar County sheriff's deputies with a warrant out of Harris County for another man with the same name and date of ... more Photo: JOHN ALBRIGHT, San Antonio Express-News Photo: JOHN ALBRIGHT, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close S.A. worker mistakenly jailed 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Authorities recently detained the wrong man on a sexual assault warrant, arresting a San Antonio construction worker with the common name of Jose Hernandez — despite an apparent 6-inch height difference with the actual suspect, records show.

Jose Gabriel Hernandez, who stands 6 feet 1 inches and weighs 230 pounds, was arrested at his home Oct. 22 by Bexar County sheriff's deputies, who had a warrant out of Harris County for another Jose Hernandez with the same date of birth. But the wanted man stood only 5 feet 7 and weighed about 190 pounds, according to court records.

“It's pretty obvious it's not me,” said Hernandez, 49.

In the days after his arrest, his wife and other relatives scraped together $22,500 — 15 percent of his $150,000 bail — and reached out to a friend who is an attorney in a Houston law firm. That friend connected the family with Billy Belk, a former Houston police detective and a defense attorney, who took the case for free and pointed out several problems with the identification to prosecutors.

Harris County prosecutors dismissed the charges against Hernandez on Wednesday after a Houston police detective confirmed that photos of the wanted man and the arrested man did not match, according to the district attorney's office. A note by the prosecutor on the dismissal paperwork reads: “Wrong ‘Jose Hernandez' arrested.”

Belk said he is still unsure how his client came onto the Bexar County Sheriff's Office radar. He said Hernandez recently applied for a part-time job as a school bus driver, which might have brought the outstanding warrant to the attention of authorities conducting a criminal background check.

Bexar County sheriff's officials declined to comment on the case. Houston police did not immediately return a call Monday.

“I don't think there was anything malicious,” Hernandez said. “It was just that somebody got lazy and didn't do their job. They just jumped the gun and arrested a Jose Hernandez” with the same birth date as the suspect.

Hernandez said he is out the $22,500 his family paid the bail bondsman. He contacted the company after the charge was dismissed but said he was told there are no refunds, even for wrongful arrests. The owner of the company, Albert Saenz, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hernandez said he still has to formally expunge the charges from his record, which can be time consuming. He added that he is considering a lawsuit against state and local law enforcement to recoup some of his costs for the wrongful arrest.

The other Jose Hernandez is still wanted in the 2005 sexual assaults, and a warrant with additional information has been reissued for his arrest, authorities said.

“As odd as it sounds, I'm almost glad it was me that got arrested and not some poor soul who didn't know anybody who could help him,” Hernandez said. “He'd still be sitting in jail.”