Over 100 inmates who were released from Rikers Island due to coronavirus concerns have been arrested again.
Police sources claim that released inmates have been responsible for 190 arrests since the pandemic hit. Of the 1500 inmates released in March, 7% have reoffended, according to a New York Post report.
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the release of the prisoners in late March after approximately 91 inmates out of every 1,000 tested positive for coronavirus, according to The Intercept. Democratic New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said that prisoners over 50 or with pre-existing health conditions that would make them more susceptible to coronavirus would be prioritized for release. (RELATED: California Prison Inmates Caught Infecting Themselves With Coronavirus In Hopes Of Early Release)
Shocked? Not me.
They are criminals. It’s literally what they do.
So stop letting them out!https://t.co/ii8S3X8y0J
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) May 13, 2020
Jerard Iamunno, an inmate with two felony convictions and 11 misdemeanor charges, was one of the prisoners rearrested after being released March 25. He allegedly robbed a man at knifepoint at an ATM in Harlem and was arrested Sunday night. Iammuno is currently being held in jail on a $10,000 bail.
Around a quarter of the arrests were for burglary. Since the pandemic, New York has seen a spike in robberies, the majority of which have occurred in Manhattan. Records show that patrol area Manhattan South has seen a 70% increase in burglaries, the largest spike in the area, the New York Post said.