Disturbing consequences of early prison release in New York due to coronavirus mount

(Getty)

The consequences of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to release hundreds of “non-violent” inmates from Rikers Island are beginning to manifest, and they’re as horrific and disturbing as any sane person could have easily predicted.

Strike One

Over in the Bronx, for instance, 62-year-old retired carpenter Richard Goetschius must now walk with his right arm in a sling thanks to the assault he suffered Tuesday from one of de Blasio’s released inmates.

“The retired carpenter was attacked about 8 a.m. Tuesday after buying cigarettes at a bodega at Valentine Ave. and E. 198th St,” the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

“As Goetschius — wearing a mask to avoid the virus and walking with a cane because he’s had eight surgeries on his legs — left the store, Daniel Vargas, 29, allegedly confronted him, demanding the cash he was holding in his hand.”

The retired carpenter refused because it was the only money he had left, and so Vargas attacked him.

“He grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground,” Goetschius said to the Daily News. “I was fighting as hard as I could. I was yelling, ‘Cop, help, police!’ He wrestled me for the cash. He kept saying, ‘Give me the money! Give me the money!'”

Vargas eventually got away with $80 but was caught by authorities a block away and arrested on charges of robbery, grand larceny, assault and possession of stolen property.

Thanks to his predictable assault on Goetschius, he’s back at Rikers Island. Meanwhile, the 62-year-old retiree is stuck with a broken arm and God knows how much in medical bills.

“He deserves to be behind bars,” he said. “[Vargas] broke my arm.”

But apparently, de Blasio disagreed.

Citing concerns about the coronavirus infecting “elderly” offenders at Rikers Island, late last month he ordered the release of hundreds of allegedly “non-violent” elderly inmates:

According to the Daily News, Vargas was among these “non-violent” elderly inmates.

“[L]ast November, Vargas was busted for felony drug possession and ordered held because there was a warrant out for his arrest for violating his parole,” the outlet reported.

On March 28, however, he was among a number of prisoners released from Rikers Island out of fear the fast-spreading coronavirus couldn’t be contained at the jail.”

FYI, Vargas is 29 years old …

Goetschius’s assault was reportedly caught on video. While local authorities haven’t released the footage, they have described it as “disturbing to watch.”

Sadly, this isn’t the only “disturbing” consequence of de Blasio’s leniency toward criminals.

Strike Two

Another inmate released because of the mayor’s policies is Jimmy Rosario, who was sentenced to nearly a year in prison last October for the “third-degree assault” that led to the death of Troy Scott, the brother of LaTor Scott, during a summer altercation.

“Now, the man who threw the punch that killed her brother has been released without completing his sentence,” ABC News reported Tuesday.

And this happened without the Scott family even being informed of his release.

“Nobody contacted us … the prosecutor on my brother’s case didn’t even know he [Rosario] was getting out,” LaTor Scott said. “I logged on to the inmate website, plugged his name in and saw that he was released — so that’s how we found out.”

“I think is kind of crazy that they are doing this without notifying families. The guy who did this to my brother, he lives a few blocks away so we are bound to possibly run into him. We live in the same neighborhood. My mother was nervous.”

To make matters worse, Rosario was released without any conditions, meaning no parole, no probation, no nothing.

“It was like you’re free to go … to let him get out even extra early, that’s just a double slap in our faces,” LaTor said. “It goes to show you that the justice system is flawed, it’s real flawed.”

Thanks to de Blasio, yes it is.

Strike Three, Four, Etc.

Another “non-violent” inmate who’s been released because of de Blasio is John Bartee, 45, who according to ABC News “was arrested for beating the mother of his child on three separate occasions in 2018. One of those attacks in July 2018 resulted in the retina of the woman’s right eye being detached, according to the criminal complaint.”

Then there’s Darryl Naser, who was released from Rikers Island late last month “for skipping a court date in a grand larceny case,” according to the Daily News.

Days later he was rearrested for breaking into a closed newsstand.

Well done, Mayor de Blasio. Well done …

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Vivek Saxena

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