Harris County Puts Ankle Monitors Under 24/7 Watch After Defendants Cut Them Off and Fled
No one at Harris County Pretrial Services was watching defendants on GPS ankle monitors around the clock - escapes were learned of the next business day. A $1.5 million infusion from Commissioners Court is now funding 24/7 monitoring, with three staff hired and 12 more to come.
Harris County is moving to watch defendants on ankle monitors around the clock. Until now, no one with Harris County Pretrial Services was monitoring defendants wearing monitoring devices on bond for violent crimes 24/7, and the soonest the agency learned of an escape was the next business day, FOX 26 Houston reported. That is changing with $1.5 million given to Pretrial Services by Commissioners Court.
Two cases frame why. Fredy Arriaga, free on a $100,000 bond for sexual assault, did not show up for trial on October 16; investigators say he took off his GPS ankle monitor and headed to the border, and authorities in South Texas told FOX 26 on Monday that he was taken into custody. Earlier this year, capital murder defendant Lee Gilley took off his ankle monitor and fled to Italy.
"A significant part of this issue has been addressed," Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. Pretrial Services Director Natalie Michailides said the agency has hired three people with 12 more to go, and that the new staff are currently being trained - full training takes six to seven months, so the around-the-clock watch builds up as the hires complete it.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told the station it is unusual for a defendant to tamper with an ankle monitor in order to flee the county or the state. The new funding is meant to close exactly that gap: a monitor removed at night should now draw a response at night, not a report the next business day.
