A man recently released from jail due to coronavirus concerns was arrested again after allegedly carrying out a carjacking and attacking a separate victim with a hammer in San Jose, according to police.

James Mitchell Correa, 25, was freed from Santa Clara County jail on April 10 while awaiting trial for a prior carjacking and related charges – including violating parole – despite protestations from the district attorney’s office, who cited Correa’s violent history and gang affiliations and said he posed a threat to public safety.

San Jose Police say Correa was wanted in connection with “a pair of attacks Wednesday in San Jose in which he is accused of commandeering someone’s car by saying that he had a gun, and the separate hammer attack,” the Mercury News reports.

Correa was eventually arrested again and is now being held without bail at Santa Clara County jail.

“Once again, a judge has given more rights to the criminal than they’re giving to victims and residents of the city,” said San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia. “This judge got lucky by this individual being apprehended. Had he hurt anyone else or caused my officers harm, that would have been a difficult burden to carry.”

“If you let a misdemeanor offender without this history out, I wouldn’t hold you accountable since you can’t predict that person would do something like this, but [Correa] had all the signs of someone who was going to hurt someone.”

Prisoners across the country are being freed under the guise of concerns about ‘overcrowding’ in jails and possible spread of coronavirus among inmates.

Santa Clara County jails have reportedly seen a 26 percent decrease in population since early March.



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Dan Lyman: Follow @CitizenAnalyst