Over 100 Rikers Island Inmates Rearrested for New Crimes After COVID-19 Release
Inmates were responsible for 190 arrests since the pandemic hit,
© press
More than 100 inmates who were released from Rikers Island due to coronavirus spreading have been arrested again, according to reports.
The inmates were responsible for 190 arrests since the pandemic hit, according to police sources.
In March 1500, inmates were released, and 7% of them have reoffended, the New York Post reported.
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the release of the prisoners in March after it was reported that almost 10 percent of every 1,000 tested positive for coronavirus.
Additionally, Cuomo released eight convicted sex offenders, including child rapists, in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Cuomo’s Department of Corrections and Community Services defended their decision in a statement to local media, saying:
© press
“This significant action is being taken in response to a growing number of COVID-19 cases in local jails over the past few days and weeks.”
New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said that inmates over 50 or with pre-existing health conditions would get priority for release.
Inmate Jerard Iamunno, who was released in March, was rearrested after he allegedly robbed a man at knifepoint at an ATM in Harlem.
Iamunno already has two felony convictions and 11 misdemeanor charges.
Around a quarter of the arrests were for burglary, reports say.
New York has since seen a massive spike in robberies, the majority of which have occurred in Manhattan.
Shocked? Not me.
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) May 13, 2020
They are criminals. It’s literally what they do.
So stop letting them out!https://t.co/ii8S3X8y0J
© press
Meanwhile, records show Manhattan South has seen a 70% increase in burglaries.
Last month, Neon Nettle reported a convicted murderer was re-arrested for robbing a bank after being released from Rikers Island prison.
Law enforcement officials said the violent felon was arrested around a week after being freed from jail.
The convict, James Little, “was cut loose from the jail because of the coronavirus outbreak on March 28 after being locked up for strangulation earlier in the month,” police sources reportedly told The New York Post.
“About a week later on the morning of April 7, Little allegedly tried to rob an Apple Bank on Irving Place in Gramercy Park,” the Post added.
Little was “on parole for a 1995 murder,” and the alleged strangulation stemmed from “charges of assaulting his girlfriend,” The New York Daily News noted.
