Fury Erupts As Judge Frees Career Burglar Without Bail

Fury from Bronx merchants as judge frees career burglar - without bail
The New York Daily News by Mike Jaccarino  -  April 14, 2011

Judge Joseph Capella is not the most popular man along Third Ave. in the Hub these days. The Bronx jurist has drawn the ire of merchants there after freeing without bail a career burglar arrested on seemingly ironclad evidence: DNA he left at the scenes of his alleged crimes. "It's crazy," Jose Abreu, manager of a Radio Shack, said of Capella's decision to release Pedro Miranda.  "He'll do it again. He'll do another store around here. Or maybe next time it'll be my house, God forbid, or even your house." "Why would he let him go?" asked Sue Ryu, manager of Feel Beauty. "I would fire that judge if they had proof. It doesn't make any sense." Miranda, 48, of Manhattan, has seven prior arrests, five of them for burglary. He was arrested April 4 for allegedly breaking into the T-Mobile store near 152nd St. twice last fall. After hours on Oct. 18, Miranda allegedly hollowed out a hole in the roof of the T-Mobile outlet and stole two Nokia phones, two Samsung phones and a T-Mobile tap cell phone and dumped the cash register on the floor.  Inside the ceiling, cops recovered a wool hat left behind. A week later, police say Miranda did it again, entering the same way and making off with three cell phones. This time, police recovered a red-handled wire cutter from inside the ceiling. Cops worked up a DNA profile based on the wool hat and wire cutter and matched it to Miranda. His DNA profile was already on file with the state DNA forensic data bank. Miranda was tracked down at a homeless shelter on Lafayette Ave. and arrested on charges including burglary, trespass, petty larceny and possession of stolen property. At his arraignment on April 6, a prosecutor requested $25,000 bail, citing Miranda as a flight risk and someone with a long rap sheet for similar offenses. Capella, a Civil Housing Court judge who just started hearing criminal cases in January, freed Miranda without bail. A spokesman for the Office of Court Administration, who spoke with Capella following the decision, said that judges can set bail only to ensure a defendant's return to court, not to punish someone yet to be convicted of a crime. Miranda's Legal Aid lawyer did not return a call for comment. The manager at the T-Mobile declined to comment, but Vincent Valentino, a retired cop and the executive director of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District, was furious. "The cops brought the guy in, they did a very good job and now he's out on the street," Valentino said. "This guy must feel like, 'Hey, I can get away with anything I want. The judge cut me loose, I'm going out there to make more money.'" mjaccarino@nydailynews.com