Brother of late Patriots star faces a judge in New Britain
By Rob Polansky and Dylan Fearon
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NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut (WFSB) — The brother of a troubled late NFL star faced a judge in New Britain on a threatening charge Tuesday.
Dennis “DJ” Hernandez, brother of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, was arrested last week by Bristol police.
He faces a list of charges for several incidents, including breach of peace, failure to appear in court, and threatening.
DJ Hernandez stood with his attorney as Bristol Police Patrolman Zachary Levine testified.
Levine outlined how DJ Hernandez allegedly mapped out school shootings at UConn and Brown, plus threatening to kill his estranged wife, ex-girlfriend, and police.
“The couple had traveled to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island on July 3rd. And that during that time he believed he was recognized as the brother of Aaron and he became extremely upset and his mental health has deteriorated since then,” said Levine.
DJ Hernandez’s estranged wife told police she was worried about him.
His ex-girlfriend sent police text messages DJ Hernandez sent her about killing people.
On July 7 he missed a court date and took his ex’s car to UConn, according to Levine.
“She believed he traveled to the UConn campus to map it out for a school shooting,” Levine said. “That vehicle was on license plate readers on the UConn campus on that date in question.”
UConn police told Channel 3 that despite the texts there was no imminent threat to the university.
Eight police officers found DJ Hernandez and went to arrest him, but not before he allegedly threatened them.
“Mr. Hernandez said he was on foot he was armed, and he would kill us if we tried approaching him,” said Levine.
Police tased DJ Hernandez after refusing to get on the ground.
He has been in custody since July 19.
DJ Hernandez is also accused of driving to Brown University in Rhode Island and mapping out the campus for a shooting.
The arrest marked his fourth of the year.
DJ Hernandez was first arrested back in May when he led police on a pursuit.
There is now a protective order against DJ Hernandez, for his wife.
What was not addressed in court was DJ Hernandez’s incident at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, where he allegedly threw a rock at ESPN property in March.
He will be back in court for that breach of peace charge on August 15.
Aaron Hernandez, also Bristol-native, was convicted of murder. Aaron Hernandez later killed himself in prison.
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