The Bridgeport Police today arrested a 31-year-old man for a domestic assault that caused a large police response on Sanford Place on Tuesday afternoon. Bryan James Hernaiz, whose most recent address is New Rochelle, New York, but has also lived in Bridgeport, was taken into custody at his workplace in Fairfield on Wednesday morning.
At approximately 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, patrol officers were called to an apartment building on Sanford Place where a woman told them she had been punched by Hernaiz. Officers believed Hernaiz might be barricaded inside the woman’s apartment armed with an assault rifle. A perimeter was established. A negotiator and members of the Emergency Services Unit were activated.
Emergency Service Officers eventually entered the apartment. They found nobody inside but located an AR-15-Style Assault Rifle in a closet. It was seized as evidence, along with two 30-round magazines and 92 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition.
The victim was treated for a minor head injury at the scene by medics.
Hernaiz was served with two felony warrants on Wednesday. One was for a domestic violence case from 2025. The other two warrants were from Tuesday’s incident. He will face the following charges when he is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
- Assault in the Third Degree
- Violation of a Protective Order (four counts)
- Criminal Possession of a Firearm (two counts)
- Risk of Injury to a Child
- Interfering with an Officer
- Threatening in the Second Degree – Violence to Terrorize (two counts)
- Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree
- Illegal Sale/Purchase of a Large Capacity Magazine
- Disorderly Conduct
The bonds for Hernaiz totaled $220,000.
The arrest of Bryan James Hernaiz was an outstanding effort by the Patrol Division, the Detective Bureau, and the Emergency Services Unit.
Chief Roderick Porter commended the officers and the detectives for their work. “The officers and the detectives acted decisively to address the safety of the victim and the community as a whole,” said Chief Porter. “Those same officers and detectives made it a priority to get this suspect into custody and charged appropriately.”