Burglar out on bail Wednesday strikes again on Saturday, police say

Nicholas Closson (Rochester Police photo)

ROCHESTER - The local transient arrested for allegedly trying to break into a May Street home on Wednesday was bailed and released the same day only to be arrested again on Sunday in another city break-in.

It's another example of the unintended consequences of the state's recent bail reform legislation, which has led to some of the accused missing up to a dozen court appearances with no repercussions.

Nicholas Closson, 37, a local transient, was charged with possession of burglary tools (misdemeanor), loitering/prowling (violation) and attempted theft by unauthorized taking (misdemeanor) in his Wednesday arrest, which was aided by an armed homeowner who arrived home to find him attempting to burglarize his home and held him at bay until police arrived.

Closson, who has several city arrests on mostly petty crimes, was charged on Sunday with breaking into a house on Richardson Street, Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham said today.

Pinkham said if the Wednesday arrest had occurred prior to bail reform there would have been a larger chance he would've been held on cash bail, but bail reform advocates like the bill's sponsor, State Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, want cash taken out of the equation, arguing that it is unfair to the poor and indigent.

In a statement sent The Rochester Voice last week Feltes said bail reform is designed to keep nondangerous people out of jail.

"Bipartisan bail reform protects public safety, protects individual liberty and economic opportunity, and protects property tax payers from footing the bill to jail nondangerous people pending their trial," he said. "If someone misses a hearing, that doesn't mean they are a danger to themselves or others, it means they missed a hearing."

But the legislation has had a chilling effect on law enforcement, prosecutors and likely judges, too.

Pinkham said bail reform has changed how officers sometimes handle various offenses: whether they give a violator a hand summons for future arraignment or book them at the station, where a bail bondsman often has them back on the street before the officer has finished writing their report.

"Bail reform does go into their thinking," Pinkham said last week.

Specifically, the Bail Reform legislation, SB 314, lays down the new parameters for cash bail to include anyone "charged as a felony, class A misdemeanor, or driving or operating while impaired, 3 or more times within the past 5 years."

But many crimes like shoplifting and theft by unauthorized taking can be B misdemeanors that aren't even in the mix.

The result while awaiting trial is some rack up a half dozen failures to appear with no consequence, Pinkham said, or reoffend and get another PR bail.

"I know this guy (Closson) didn't hurt anybody, but he's breaking into people's houses and stealing their stuff," Pinkham said. "Where do you value property, given the incident on the 24^th? He's doing it again. What if we didn't catch him, and he pawned someone's $20,000 diamond ring?"

Pinkham said police has received a lot of questions from the community unhappy there is no accountability for such scofflaws.

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi said earlier this month the cumulative effect of arrestees getting back on the street on PR bail and reoffending and getting PR bail again was going down a dangerous path.

"People don't understand why (criminals) get out on PR and go back to court for another offense and get out on no bail again," Velardi said.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill on June 25, saying, ""It is critical to close loopholes that could potentially allow dangerous suspects from causing harm in our communities while they await trial, and this bill is another step in the right direction."

But Velardi says more needs to be done to hold nonviolent offenders accountable when they break laws while out on bail or fail to appear for court dates multiple times.

Velardi worries bail reform that allows no consequence for repeat offenders is treading down a dangerous path.

"Someone's going to end up getting hurt, and it's unfortunate if this is what has to happen for things to change," Velardi said earlier this month.

Velardi was recently added to a mix of law enforcement agencies, the ACLU and other stakeholders to consider and make recommendations to further strengthen bail reform to protect the public. They will make those recommendations to the legislature in November 2020.