(Travis Weathers - Redondo Beach Police Department)
Last Wednesday a Redondo Beach resident, who is only identified as Marie, was washing some dishes. A man in a dark hoodie slowly opened the door to the kitchen and walked inside.
At first she thought it was her son, but it was actually in intruder. Marie jumped into action and yelled at the man to get out. She told the Beach News Reporter:
“Once I saw that 6-foot-tall guy, I just rushed to my son, scooped him out of the house and ran for our lives."
The intruder was identified as 27-year-old Travis Weathers, who chased Marie and her son in a "drunk staggering way."
Marie was able to flag down a driver who called 911, and Redondo Beach Police apprehended Weathers two hours later using a non-lethal rubber bullet.
Weathers was already on probation for an earlier offense, and was sentenced to 114 days in L.A. County Jail on May 19th.
Just two days later, he was released. Marie was shocked. The next day she got an emergency restraining order and police promised to beef up patrols in her neighborhood.
The police said there's nothing they can do about his release. Marie is furious:
“Everybody thought he would be away for two years. I’m so angry.”
Redondo Beach City Prosecutor Melanie Chavira is frustrated, but all too familiar with this scenario. This is the result of Jerry Brown's fixation on helping criminals.
Chavira said:
“It's very frustrating. There's no real deterrent value in doing what we do when we know a person is going to be released and there's no real punishment. If there's no real punishment, there's not much incentive for someone to change their behavior.”
When voters passed Prop 57, they sealed California's fate. This kind of stuff will keep happening, and it's going to get ugly.