New York’s bail reform law freed from jail an illegal alien wanted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a prior conviction, who is now accused of savagely raping a woman in Delaware County.
Cruz Garcia, a 43-year-old illegal alien, was arrested this week and charged with second-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, and first-degree rape.
According to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, on July 25, Garcia strangled a woman while raping her. The woman, police said, nearly lost consciousness at the time of the sexual assault.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for her injuries.
Garcia allegedly raped the woman after having been released from jail in Orange County, New York, less than two months prior. In that case, Garcia was charged with drunk driving and driving without a license.
New York’s bail reform law ensures that most criminal suspects are not required to be held in jail on bail. Instead, they are quickly released back into the community.
The list of crimes for which suspects are released without bail includes:
- Second-degree manslaughter
- Aggravated vehicular assault
- Third-degree assault
- Promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child
- Possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child
- Promoting a sexual performance by a child
- Failure to register as a sex offender
- Making terroristic threats
- Criminally negligent homicide
- Aggravated vehicular homicide
“Unfortunately, due to New York State’s bail reform laws the defendant was automatically released from custody on those felony charges,” Delaware County Acting District Attorney Shawn Smith said in a statement.
Likewise, Smith confirmed that Garcia was wanted by ICE agents after having been previously convicted on unrelated charges. New York’s sanctuary state law ensured Orange County officials released him without turning him over to ICE agents for deportation.
A study published this year found that New York’s bail reform law has led to more than 72 percent of violent crime suspects released from jail without bail going on to commit more crimes and getting arrested again.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
