SF District Attorney Blames “system” For Parolee’s Hit-and-Run Deaths

A habitual criminal released from prison last April has been charged with a New Year’s Eve hit-and-run which killed two pedestrians in San Francisco.  Katy Grimes of the California Globe reports that after Troy Ramon McAlister was released on parole after serving time for armed robbery, San Francisco police arrested him several times, most recently on December 20, but DA Chesa Boudin never charged him with any crimes.  McAlister was driving a stolen car while intoxicated when he ran down 27-year-old Japanese-born Hanako Abe and 60-year-old Elizabeth Platt.  Boudin, a former public defender, blames state parole office for not adequately supervising the criminal.

Rather than charge McAlister for the crimes he was arrested for Boudin told reporters “We referred these cases to parole because we believed there was a great likelihood of him being held accountable and having the kind of intervention that would protect the public and break this cycle of recidivism.”  Boudin must have forgotten the job description for District Attorneys which places the responsibility for holding criminals accountable and protecting the public on him.  Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón seems to be suffering from the same memory problem.

“When you put a public defender in to be the chief law officer, you can expect him to side with the criminals and not the victims,” said Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.  State Corrections officials, which run parole, responded that McAlister was free to steal a car and run down pedestrians because Boudin’s office repeatedly chose not to file charges against him.