Audrey Harkins thinks President Trump’s executive order to end cashless bail in violent and serious criminal cases is not only a good idea — but long overdue.
Harkins, 94, was rushing to catch the E train in Lower Manhattan on June 5 when she was bludgeoned in the head, allegedly by Edwin Wright, a 39-year-old vagrant with a rap sheet who was free because of the Empire State’s controversial bail reforms.
“I think anything that will save this city from the path we’re on is welcome,” Harkins told The Post. “I mean, the man who hit me had been arrested and let out over 250 times. Does that make any sense to you? I know it doesn’t make any sense to me.”
The feisty New Yorker’s story is just one example of how the 2019 criminal justice reforms passed by lawmakers in Albany, which bars judges from setting bail on most crimes, have caused chaos.
Wright, who remained on the loose after the attack, had five prior arrests, including for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old boy in November, but was free because the charges didn’t qualify for bail.
“Without the NYPD we’d have anarchy in this city in a matter of hours,” Harkins added. “But it’s too much to ask them to keep arresting the same guy over and over and over again. Put me down for a well-regulated, secure city.”
Non-violent crimes like theft and larceny do not merit bail under the law, which critics contend has emboldened criminals.
Under the executive order signed by Trump Monday, cities across the US will be pushed to end cashless bail for criminal suspects facing a slew of now bail-exempt charges — and could lose federal funding if they don’t comply.
Halbert Burke, 58, already had 11 convictions since 2017 had — and 24 felony busts since — but remained on the streets because the grand larceny and possession of stolen property charges he kept getting hit with are not eligible for bail.
The law has also made life easier for serial shoplifters, who can strike again and again and walk out of court with a slap on the wrist that lets them get back to their chosen trade.
At 53, Laron Mack already had more than 200 busts on his record before he was pinched again in July.
Mack, who seemed to have a penchant for Modelo beer, was picked up at the same Manhattan Duane Reade outlet where he had been nabbed at least a dozen times.
Among the most prolific Big Apple career shoplifters is Anthony White, who kept walking out of court again and again under the law despite a staggering 254 arrests.
In fact, as of July, there were 1,288 criminals responsible for 45% of all shoplifting incidents in the five boroughs, according to NYPD data — while te top four recidivists alone have 795 arrests among them, mostly for shoplifting, police sources said.
Yet, sometimes the cases had more dire consequences.
In 2022, upstate mom Keaira Bennefield, 30, was ambushed and shot dead while taking her kids to school on Oct. 5 — allegedly by her estranged ex, Adam Bennefield, who was released after an earlier alleged attack on his wife because the misdemeanor charge he was hit with didn’t warrant bail.
Keaira had even posted an earlier assault on Facebook in a desperate call for help.
Adam Bennefield is still awaiting trial on murder charges.
The post NYC assault victim, 94, chimes in on Trump order to end ‘cashless bail:’ ‘Anything that will help us’ appeared first on New York Post.
