Kareem Gibbs, 25, was arrested Friday, after he resisted arrest in Bergen County, and seriously injured a decorated police officer. It seems that NJ passed the most lenient law that allows felons to walk away from jail for free. Gibbs was stopped by Bogota, NJ police officer Walter Kumka. Gibbs fled and Officer Kumka gave chase. When he was caught it was discovered that there were two warrants out for his arrest including the rape of a teenager.
Despite the two outstanding warrants and the new charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, hindering apprehension, possession of crack with the intent to distribute it, and possession of marijuana, the judge let him go with no bail. That’s hard to understand since Gibbs did not show up for court in his other two arrests.
Bogota Police Captain James Sepp said Officer Walter Kumka was making a traffic stop Friday night on Linden Ave., when he encountered an individual with two outstanding warrants, according to the Daily Voice.
Gibbs attempted to flee on foot, but Officer Kumka chased him down, Capt. Sepp said.
When Officer Kumka caught him, Gibbs resisted arrest, fighting with the officer.
Officer Kumka had to be hospitalized for a broken finger, swelling and bruising on his face, a bloody nose, and cuts and scrapes on his arms, the captain told Daily Voice.
The injured officer will miss four to six weeks of work to recover, he said.
Officer Kumka also was the first Bogota police officer to qualify to be a member of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team, according to Bogota Blog NJ.
The judge released Gibbs, without bail, less than 10 hours after he was arrested, despite the fact he’d had multiple pending warrants at the time he put a police officer in the hospital, the Daily Voice reported.
However, releasing violent felons without bail is now acceptable according to New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, under which nearly all defendants are expected to be released with no monetary bail, according to NJ.com.
The Bail Reform and Speed Trial Act includes an assessment in Central Judicial Processing, to determine if a defendant is a flight risk, a danger to the community or a threat to a witness.
Some defendants, classified as high risk for failing to appear in court, can be released on a combination of monetary bail and supervision, or held without bail, but it’s all at the discretion of the judge hearing the case.
As Gibbs already had two outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest, which meant that he had already failed to appear in court on those cases.
This new policy is pure insanity especially when it comes to those who repeatedly disobey the law. NJ may be the first state to enact this new law but there are many other blue states with similar laws either proposed or in the pipeline for approval. How many people will now become new victims to these predators? A violent repeat offender gets out without posting bail. What could possibly go wrong with that?
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