Every police officer in Santa Clara County is on alert after
a judge released a very dangerous person, instead of keeping him in jail
awaiting trial for being a felon in possession of a loaded AR-15.
Campbell police pulled Ed Varela over early Sunday morning and
discovered he was a convicted felon with a loaded gun in his truck.
They arrested him and to their surprise, a judge released
him on supervised own recognizance (OR).
“That is just so outrageous where someone is released that
just had an assault rifle,” said Sargent Paul Kelly, president of the San Jose
Police Officers Association.
Supervised OR means Varela is either wearing an ankle
bracelet to track his every move or he must report once a week to the county
pre-trial services office until his court date.
The San Jose Police Union said judges are being badly
influenced by weakened incarceration laws, laws that limit or eliminate money
bail, a system Silicon Valley Debug is advocating for.
“People are innocent until they’re convicted. And we don’t
think people should be stripped of their liberty pre-trial, when they haven’t
been convicted of a crime,” said Raj Jayadev from Silicon Valley Debug.
In Varela’s case, it was the judge’s discretion to release
him, prompting the police union to issue this warning to its officers.
“Watch your back. Watch the community. Take care of each
other. One call at a time and make sure you and the people we serve out there
are safe,” said Kelly.
There is no arrest warrant for Valera, he is a free man
until his next court date. The police union warns that if he is stopped again,
there is likely to be a gunfight or a chase.
San Jose Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said if it’s all true,
“then the system is not serious about stopping gun crime.”
Source: NBC Bay Area
Be First to Comment