Two Monroe County men are again out of custody, released within the same 24-hour period that their alleged crime spree started, apparently because a local judge had no authority to set bail.
Evan Jacob Vanskiver and Adam John Montes were arrested early Monday morning and, in accordance with New York's current bail law, released on appearance tickets. A short time later, they were allegedly spotted in a stolen car, leading to a Batavia PD pursuit through multiple jurisdictions.
That led to more charges, but at arraignment on Feb. 27, the date of all of these events, they were released on their own recognizance.
It's impossible to say that they would still be in custody without bail reform, but local officials say the ease with which they regained their freedom is a product of bail reform.
For charges under a certain level, police officers can't bring a suspect before a judge for arraignment. The officers must write an appearance ticket. And a judge, at arraignment, must set release conditions that are the least restrictive option available. That's the law.
District Attorney Kevin Finnell said if there had been an arraignment in pre-bail reform days, his office would have requested cash bail or bond be set. It would have been up to a judge, who may also have heard a counter-argument from a defense attorney, to weigh the flight-risk factors in order to decide if bail was necessary to ensure the defendants would reappear in court as ordered at a later date.
"Prior to bail reform, the decision of whether to set bail would have, of course, rested with the judge, so I cannot advise you with any degree of certainty if these defendants would have been held on bail," Finnell said. "I can tell you that prior to bail reform, knowing the circumstances of this case, my office would have requested that bail be set, and we would have been optimistic that our request would have been granted."
Even though holding the defendants in jail after their initial arrest on Feb. 27 isn't a given, Batavia PD Chief Shawn Heubusch does see the case as a failure of bail reform, primarily because no judge was given a chance to make a decision. An appearance ticket was mandatory.
The incidents involving Vanskiver and Montes began at 4:14 a.m. on Monday when dispatchers received a complaint of a theft from a vehicle on Church Street in Elba.
When Deputy Jeremiah Gechell arrived on scene, two men were spotted. They fled the area. Deputy James Stack and K-9 Rayzor responded and commenced a search. A short time later, Vanskiver and Montes were located. They were allegedly in possession of a cache of stolen items.
Both men were also accused of damaging a vehicle on Church Street while trying to gain access to it.
Deputy Travis DeMuth assisted in the investigation.
Vanskiver is 31 with a listed residence of Viking Way, Sweden, and Montes is reported by the Sheriff's Office not to have a residence. Batavia PD place Vanskiver's residence in Brockport and Montes in Hamlin.
In the Elba incident, the two men were both charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, a Class C felony, 14 counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, a Class E felony, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
In pre-bail reform days, not everybody charged with felonies was held. In this case, however, the extenuating circumstances that a judge could have considered under the prior bail guidelines is that one of the defendants doesn't have a permanent residence and neither is from the local area.
In an attempt to get a defense attorney's perspective on bail reform and its impact on this case, The Batavian emailed Public Defender Jerry Ader two days ago, and he did not respond.
According to Batavia PD, the two men were released from custody at the Genesee County Jail at 2:15 p.m. on Monday.
They were spotted in the allegedly stolen vehicle at 2:41 p.m. that same day on Ellicott Street near Liberty Street.
A patrol officer chased the vehicle down Route 5 to Wortendyke Road, where Vanskiver managed to avoid spike strips.
The vehicle then started traveling in a southerly direction through the towns of Batavia, Alexander, Pembroke, and Darien.
Further attempts to use spike strips to impede the vehicle were unsuccessful.
According to a Batavia PD statement, the vehicle entered the Village of Attica on Route 238, then turned into an apartment complex on Sokol Drive, where it struck a garbage Dumpster.
Vanskiver allegedly fled on foot. He was taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit. The passenger was apprehended in the vehicle.
They were arrested by Batavia PD and charged with:
Evan J. Vanskiver
- Criminal Mischief 3rd (Felony)
- Grand Larceny 3rd (Felony)
- Conspiracy
- Unlawful Fleeing of a Police Officer
- Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd
- Multiple Vehicle and Traffic Law violations
Adam J. Montes
- Grand Larceny 3rd (Felony)
- Conspiracy
Following this second arrest, Vanskiver and Montes were held pending arraignment in the new Centralized Arraignment Court. They were arraigned later that same day, according to jail records, and ordered released on their own recognizance.
The incident prompted Assemblyman Steve Hawley to call on New York to revisit its current bail law.
“The revolving door of crime that has been established by bail reform continues to hinder and harm law-abiding citizens while giving career criminals a free pass,” Hawley said. “It’s high time for the Majority in the Assembly to help bring an end to this era of crime New York is continually besieged by. To continue to ignore it makes them part of the problem.”
