NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The man who terrified a woman and her young brothers with a knife at the Central Park Carousel over the weekend is back on the streets due to the state's contentious bail laws.
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Damien Greene-Ayala, 40, was charged with menacing as a hate crime, weapons possession and endangering the welfare of a child, but according to the New York Post, a judge Monday night was forced to free him because the charges weren't bail eligible.
"If he's mentally ill, he should be sent to the hospital. If he's not mentally ill, he should be detained and not be released into the street," Assemblywoman Inez Dickens told the Post. "We're entering the tourist season. This doesn’t look good."
Greene-Ayala, who has an "extensive" criminal history outside the state, is accused of berating the two kids, ages 9 and 6, and waving a knife at them at the famous tourist site Sunday afternoon before setting his sights on their 27-year-old sister, prosecutors said at his arraignment.
According to the criminal complaint that the outlet reviewed, prosecutors added the hate crime charge after he allegedly yelled at the woman, "women should not have rights, women should be independent, women are sh*t."
Due to the nature of the crime and the defendant's criminal record, prosecutors reportedly urged Judge Soma Syed to grant the suspect the "highest level of supervised release."
"The defendant's brazen actions left the victims, including the 9- and 6-year-old boys, fearful for their safety," prosecutors said at the hearing.
They added that "given the seriousness of these new allegations and his broad contacts with the criminal justice system beyond the state of New York, the highest form of supervised release is necessary to ensure his return to court."
Greene-Ayala was found guilty of a misdemeanor vehicular crime in Virginia in 2016 and of misdemeanor criminal mischief in Wisconsin in 2017, the Post reported. Prosecutors said he also has several misdemeanors in Illinois and, most recently, he faced disorderly conduct charges in Florida in 2019.
"As this case is not bail eligible, the People are requesting the highest form of supervised release as the least restrictive means to ensure the defendant returns to court," a prosecutor told the judge.
The judge reportedly agreed to the most stringent release terms, including having Greene-Ayala check in with a court-ordered program at least five times in at least the first month and at least one in-person check-in a week.
His mother, who only identified herself as Katherine, told the outlet Tuesday that she did not know of her son's alleged conduct, but if it is true, "he should be in a psych ward."
"He needs help. If he felt menaced or threatened by a mother and two children, that's bizarre," she said. "That's off the wall, and in my opinion, he needs help. It's very concerning."
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