Two men released from jail in California due to the coronavirus pandemic were rearrested and accused of crimes shortly after being released, authorities said.
Rocky Lee Music, 32, was accused of carjacking a motorist Sunday about 40 minutes after his release from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The jail had 16 inmates test positive for the coronavirus, officials said.
Owen Aguilar, 27, of Selma in central California, was accused of setting nine fires within a week of his release from the Fresno County Jail, including setting fire to a homeless man’s tent, several commercial dumpsters, and a shopping cart which sparked a brush fire.
Thousands of inmates like Music and Aguilar had been released from California’s county jails due to an emergency order by the state Judicial Council setting bail to zero for low-level offenders.
The order was meant to combat the potential spread of coronavirus within the state’s jails and prisons.
The judicial order is expected to remain in place for 90 days after Gov. Gavin Newsom lifts the statewide stay-at-home order.
Sometimes offenders have been re-arrested more than once under this policy.
KCRA reported that Jason Gaul, 33, was previously arrested on two zero-bail releases before his third arrest, which did not qualify him for release. Gaul was charged with grand theft auto, grand theft during a state of emergency, vandalism, and committing a crime while released from custody 0n a felony.
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