Ridiculous reform forces NYPD to ask feds to catch serial NYC bank robber
(excerpt from New York Post - Jan 18 2020)
Left high and dry by the state’s new bail reform law, the NYPD was forced to ask the feds to help them reign in the Big Apple’s six-time serial bank bandit for good, sources told The Post Saturday.
When prime suspect Gerod Woodberry was arrested in connection to four bank robberies Jan. 9, and then let go, free to allegedly knock over two more — frustrated cops realized they had to call in the cavalry.
“We didn’t want him to walk out again and go rob another bank,” one law enforcement source said. “It’s too bad the politicians don’t feel the same way.”
Under the new reforms, which took hold Jan. 1, Woodberry, 42, is considered a non-violent defendant because he allegedly used notes to demand dough from banks in Brooklyn and Manhattan. State law forbids judges from setting any bail for him under the new law.
Eighteen days after his alleged crime spree began, Woodberry finally turned himself in at the Manhattan Criminal Court building on Friday.
“I’m Woodberry,” he told a court worker. “I’m the one that’s been robbing banks. He later confessed to all six heists, law enforcement sources said.
Federal prosecutors promptly took over the case and are now seeking to have him held without bail at a court appearance Sunday morning for a Jan. 10 robbery at a Downtown Brooklyn Chase bank, which netted him $1,000, officials said.
“No sound, rational and fair criminal justice system requires the pre-trial release of criminal defendants who demonstrate such determination to continuously commit serious crimes,” Brooklyn US Attorney Richard Donoghue said in announcing the criminal complaint against him and calling the spree “unprecedented.”
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