Police are pointing to multiple arrests of a homeless Steuben County man on both felony and misdemeanor charges over four days as a consequence of New York's new bail reform law.

The new law, which eliminated cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, came under fire from law enforcement officials and prosecutors across the state long before it took effect Jan. 1.

The subject of the latest criticism is Javan C. Harris, 26, who was charged Friday by the Steuben County Sheriff's Office with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony.

Harris, who allegedly stole a cellphone from a person at the Steuben County Office Building in Bath, was issued an appearance ticket to appear in Village of Bath Court at a later date.

Early Saturday morning, Harris allegedly asked to use a phone at a local hotel to find a place to stay, and while the clerk was assisting him, he took off his clothes and grabbed the clerk, according to the Village of Bath Police Department.

Bath police charged Harris with second-degree unlawful imprisonment and public lewdness, both misdemeanors.

Harris was arraigned in centralized arraignment court and released again.

At 10:44 a.m. Saturday, Harris was again arrested by the Bath Police Department for an incident at Tops Markets in the village.

Harris allegedly entered the store after he was previously issued a trespass warning and while in the business stole some merchandise, police say.

Bath police charged Harris with third-degree burglary, a felony, petit larceny, a misdemeanor, and trespassing, a violation.

Harris was also reportedly in possession of a stolen bicycle and police additionally charged him with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a misdemeanor.

Again, Harris was arraigned in centralized arraignment court and released.

At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Harris was taken into custody by the Hornell Police Department after he allegedly inappropriately touched some females at Wegmans and Walmart in Hornell.

Police charged Harris with resisting arrest and two counts of forcible touching, both misdemeanors.

He was arraigned again in centralized arraignment court and this time he was committed to the Steuben County Jail in lieu of $2,000 bail. Harris is scheduled to answer the charges Thursday in City of Hornell Court.

In November, more than a month before the law took effect, law enforcement officials from across the Southern Tier gathered in Elmira to speak out against bail reform measures.

Among them was Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard, who said the Harris situation is a microcosm of everything he feared would occur under the changes.

"Now instead of one victim we have a slew of victims across different jurisdictions all due to this new set of laws that don't take into account danger to the public or take into account criminal history, or mental health or addiction status," Allard said.

"It took four arrests to get him (in jail). At what point of time do we realize the rights of victims of crimes outweigh the criminals?" he said. "As much as we try to educate, now people are seeing the real life effects of this."

But defense attorneys, including Chemung County Public Advocate John Brennan, fully support bail reform.

"Currently we have too many of our clients, particularly low income people who are in jail for nonviolent offenses, just sitting waiting for their case to be disposed of simply because they can’t pay bail to get out," Brennan said previously. "They should remain at liberty until the disposition of their case."

Many state legislators, including Sen. Tom O'Mara, R-Big Flats, have been calling for the reforms to be scrapped, or at least put on hold until changes can be made.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that these new laws will put public safety at risk,” O’Mara said. “We have heard direct testimony from the men and women on the front lines of law enforcement in our communities that these laws, as they stand, are unworkable and will jeopardize the safety of crime witnesses and crime victims, especially the victims of domestic violence.”

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