34 of 42 criminals arrested for warrants back on streets just over a week later

One week ago, ABC 17 News reported a major crime sweep in mid-Missouri that led to more than 40 arrests.

Now many of those criminals may be back on the streets.

On Aug. 1-3, Columbia police teamed up with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies on what they called a proactive effort to get criminals off the streets.

ABC 17 News tried to get a list of the people arrested in the proactive sweep.

All agencies involved told ABC 17 News to contact Columbia police for the lists.

But Columbia police said they didn’t have a list of those arrested and they didn’t make a record of case numbers included in the roundup.

They said most of the arrests were on warrants.

ABC 17 News pulled reports from the three-day span when police say they made the sweep.

There were 42 warrant arrests, and out of the 42 arrested, 34 have already bonded out and are back on the streets.

That’s more than 80 percent.

Officer Joe Bernhard with Columbia police said it’s frustrating to work hard to round up criminals only to have many of them return to the streets days later.

He said in some cases, they will commit the crimes again.

But he said that’s how the justice system works. People who are arrested have a right to bond out, depending on the crime.

ABC 17 News asked Bernhard if he still thought the effort was a success, and said it’s still very important to continue picking up criminals, despite the high number of those who bond out.

Some arrested on warrants posted high bond amounts.

Carlos Dudley of Columbia was arrested on a county warrant and posted his bond of $45,000.

William Donnell Jr. also had a county warrant and posted his $2,500 bond the same day he was brought in.

The Department of Corrections directed ABC 17 News to talk to the county courts about the matter.

The Boone County prosecutor attorney said he didn’t want to comment until he researched the numbers himself.