The ‘Empty the Jails Due to COVID’ Folks Should Have a Nice Time Explaining What Happened in Virginia

Matt Vespa | August 10, 2020 4:22 AM

There’s been a lot of talk from some folks about emptying the jails to help curb the spread of coronavirus. It’s proven to be not the best policy for obvious reasons. In New York City, some of these inmates were accused of violent crimes. They were re-arrested and then re-released as well. It’s a vicious cycle. This is what was reported back in June (via NBC New York):

“We’re continuing to see people get arrested over and over and let right back out. And it really defies common sense,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview with NBC New York.
Of approximately 2,500 defendants sprung from Rikers early because of COVID safety planning, at least 250 have been arrested again since, according to Michael LiPetri, chief of Crime Control Strategies for the NYPD.
Chief LiPetri tells NBC New York the NYPD did not object to releasing older defendants, nor those with underlying medical conditions. But he says the consequences of the larger-scale release of prisoners are now showing up in the arrest data, with those 250 re-offenders being arrested 450 times so far during the pandemic.

Of the 2,500 prisoners released from Rikers Island, 10 percent were rearrested after committing another 450 crimes.

Now, in Alexandria, Virginia, we have a man, Ibrahm E. Bouaichi, who was accused of rape, released due to COVID, and then tracked down and killed his accuser, Karla Dominguez, in July. Authorities tracked him down, but he shot himself during the pursuit. He later died of his injuries (via WUSA9):

Ibrahm E. Bouaichi died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound that severely hurt the man Wednesday. Police confirmed the news to WUSA9 on Saturday.
Police in Virginia say that Bouaichi, a rape suspect released from jail in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, went on to kill the woman who had accused him.
The Washington Post reports that Bouaichi was tracked down by authorities on Wednesday. But he shot himself and was in grave condition on Thursday.
Bouaichi was indicted last year on charges that included rape, strangulation and abduction. He was jailed without bond in Alexandria.
The woman testified against him in Alexandria District Court in December.
When the pandemic hit, Bouaichi’s lawyers argued that he should be freed awaiting trial because the virus endangered both inmates and their attorneys. He was released on $25,000 bond over the objections of a prosecutor.