Stories have flooded the news cycle in recent years about authorities releasing violent criminals from custody — sometimes with no bail and despite violent charges already on their records — after which they’re soon charged with committing violent crimes again.
It’s an issue that has many observers angry, frustrated, and fed up with woke politicians, district attorneys, judges, and social justice warriors who seem intent on keeping dangerous individuals out of jail and on streets and committing more violent crimes.
Just this month, a 30-year-old male allegedly
punched a 9-year-old girl in the face while she was with her mother in the dining concourse of New York City’s Grand Central Station.
WNBC-TV said the suspect got away before the Bronx girl was taken to the hospital, the station said.
Turns out just days before, cops charged the same suspect — later identified as Jean Carlos Zarzuela — reportedly for randomly punching a 54-year-old woman and breaking her nose inside Grand Central. But a source
told WNBC-TV that while a judge set Zarzuela’s bail at $2,500 cash — and Zarzuela went to jail — he went before a different judge soon after and was released.
Police arrested Zarzuela a few hours after the girl was punched, WNBC said. He was charged with assault,
WPIX-TV said, adding that the MTA indicated additional charges are pending.
The girl suffered from dizziness and pain, WPIX reported, citing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She’s expected to recover, WPIX added.
Man arrested for punching girl in Grand Central: MTAyoutu.be
“It doesn’t make any sense that this guy — who recently was released after being charged with randomly punching someone else and breaking that victim’s nose — should be back in a public space where he can attack others, especially children,” MTA Communications Director Tim Minton told WPIX. “The people responsible for the criminal justice system need to learn from this episode before more innocent people become victims.”
The following are similar recent examples:
Ex-con released with no bail after his arrest for domestic violence against estranged wife; the next day he allegedly shoots her to death in front of her children
Adam Bennefield, 45, was charged with low-level misdemeanors in 2022 in connection with his alleged domestic violence against 30-year-old Keaira Bennefield — and the judge couldn’t set bail, so he was released. Keaira Bennefield was so afraid of what might happen to her that she wore a bulletproof vest to drop her children off at school. A day later Adam Bennefield allegedly shot her to death in her car in front of her kids, ages 6 months to 9 years. The victim’s mother said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s support of cashless bail led to her daughter’s murder: “She should be charged for the crime. She’s also responsible for the crime. She failed me. She let me down and my daughter down, and she needs to make a change with the bail reform.”
Woman released on zero bail after allegedly ramming car into businesses; a week later she’s charged with arson and attempted murder
Jacqueline Whatley, 36, was arrested last October after allegedly ramming a car into a Coffee Bean and a sushi restaurant in Los Feliz, California, KTTV-TV said. Police charged her with vandalism, which was eligible for no-cash bail, and she was released, the station said. About a week later, she faced attempted murder charges in connection with setting fires that destroyed a business, a home, and an occupied tent — and this time she was being held on $1 million bail, KTTV said.
Woman beats man with pole, released with no bail while deemed ‘moderate risk’; days later she kills mother of 8
Vanessa Harvey, 49, pleaded guilty in 2023 to voluntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of 42-year-old Machina Goodjoint, KLAS-TV reported, adding that two weeks before that crime Harvey beat her first victim — a man — with a metal pole. After the first attack, Harvey refused to appear for her probable cause hearing on a charge of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, the station said. In the attack against Goodjoint, the victim’s injuries were so severe that an officer reportedly believed Goodjoint was shot in the face. Harvey was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison and will be eligible for parole next year.
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