About FlashAlert on Twitter:
FlashAlert utilizes the free service Twitter to distribute emergency text messages. While you are welcome to register your cell phone text message address directly into the FlashAlert system, we recommend that you simply "follow" the FlashAlert account for Washington Co. Sheriff's Office by clicking on the link below and logging in to (or creating) your free Twitter account. Twitter sends messages out exceptionally fast thanks to arrangements they have made with the cell phone companies.
Click here to add Washington Co. Sheriff's Office to your Twitter account or create one.
@WCSOOregon
On Monday, July 19, 2021, at 10:08 a.m., a Hillsboro Police officer was dispatched to a harassment call near the 1200 block of NE 51st Avenue in Hillsboro. A woman called to report that her former partner 31-year-old David Hernandez Sarmiento, would not cease contacting her by telephone. A Hillsboro police officer responded to her complaint and attempted to communicate with Sarmiento via phone with the intent of putting Sarmiento on notice to cease contact with the woman.
At 1:37 p.m., multiple Hillsboro Police officers were dispatched to a disturbance at the same residence. Multiple people called 911 to report hearing yelling and gunfire and that a man was armed with a knife and a bat. There was also information that the man had just stabbed someone. While officers were responding, witnesses reported that the suspect had left in a red Toyota RAV4. As the first responding officer arrived in the area, the RAV4 accelerated toward the officer’s patrol car and hit it head-on.
The driver of the RAV4, Sarmiento, was taken into custody without incident. As he was being detained, officers discovered that Sarmiento had a gunshot wound. Sarmiento was treated at the scene and transported to an area hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
During the investigation, detectives determined that Sarmiento and the woman had previously been in a relationship, which had recently ended. They additionally learned that Sarmiento had arrived at the victim’s residence that day and began damaging her vehicle with a knife and a baseball bat. When the victim came out of her residence, Sarmiento proceeded to cut her arm with a machete. The woman’s adult son retrieved a firearm and shot Sarmiento, and Sarmiento fled in the RAV4. The woman was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Officer Scott Hanley, a 21-year veteran, sustained injuries from the head-on crash with Sarmiento. He was treated at a local hospital and is recovering at home. Sarmiento was released from the hospital on Saturday, July 24, and was transported to the Washington County Jail, where he was lodged on multiple charges.
On July 30, 2021, Sarmiento was arraigned on an indictment in a Washington County courtroom on several charges related to the disturbance with the female victim and the vehicle crash where Officer Scott Hanley was injured. The following is a list of the charges Sarmiento was arraigned on:
- Attempted murder in the second degree
- Assault in the first degree
- Unlawful use of a weapon (four counts)
- Criminal mischief in the first degree (two counts)
- Stalking
- Assault in the second degree
- Assaulting a Public Safety Officer
- Reckless endangering another person
- Reckless driving
- Assault in the fourth degree
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation related to the vehicle crash involving Officer Hanley, and Hillsboro Police Department is leading the investigation of the disturbance between Sarmiento and the female victim.