Audrey Harkins thinks President Trump\u2019s executive order to end cashless bail in violent and serious criminal cases is not only a good idea \u2014 but long overdue.<\/p>\n
Harkins, 94, was rushing to catch the E train in Lower Manhattan on June 5 when she was bludgeoned in the head<\/a>, allegedly by Edwin Wright, a 39-year-old vagrant with a rap sheet who was free because of the Empire State\u2019s controversial bail reforms.<\/p>\n \u201cI think anything that will save this city from the path we\u2019re on is welcome,\u201d Harkins told The Post. \u201cI 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\u2019t make any sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Audrey Harkins, 94, was attacked by a vagrant who was free thanks to New York\u2019s lax bail reform statutes. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n President Trump Monday signed an executive order that pushes for an end to cashless bail on many crimes. AP<\/p>\n The feisty New Yorker\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t qualify for bail.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout the NYPD we\u2019d have anarchy in this city in a matter of hours,\u201d Harkins added. \u201cBut it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Laron Mack has more than 200 arrests for shoplifting, but the state\u2019s lax laws don\u2019t allow judges to hold him on bail. Steven Hirsch<\/p>\n Non-violent crimes like theft and larceny do not merit bail under the law, which critics contend has emboldened criminals.<\/p>\n Under the executive order signed by Trump Monday<\/a>, cities across the US will be pushed to end cashless bail for criminal suspects facing a slew of now bail-exempt charges \u2014 and could lose federal funding if they don\u2019t comply.<\/p>\n Halbert Burke, 58, already had 11 convictions since 2017 had \u2014 and 24 felony busts since \u2014 but remained on the streets because<\/a> the grand larceny and possession of stolen property charges he kept getting hit with are not eligible for bail.<\/p>\n Edwin Wright was identified as the suspect who clubbed Audrey Harkins after being released without bail. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n How The Post reported President Trump\u2019s executive order to get rid of cashless bail. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n At 53, Laron Mack already had more than 200 busts<\/a> on his record before he was pinched again in July.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n