Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police recently made an arrest in a January sexual assault case. But the suspect was released on bond less than an hour later, and that has CMPD's chief fired up.
Akingbiwaju Opadele was a Fort Mill emergency medical technician. He's been charged with sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment, accused of assaulting a 17-year-old woman in the back of an ambulance while being transported to the hospital.
After his arrest on March 7, Opadale was released on the same day via an unsecured bond. In a news conference Thursday, CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings expressed his displeasure with Opadale's quick release.
“The person that we arrested was out in 37 minutes on an unsecured $15,000 bond,” Jennings said.
“Everyone within the criminal justice system has a responsibility to ensure that our community and our citizens are safe and we own that. We will always own that within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.”
I'm proud of the great work by our detectives in investigating this case and arresting Mr. Opadele. However, I was disheartened to learn that Mr. Opadele was given a $15,000 unsecured bond and released from the Mecklenburg County Jail within 37 minutes of being booked. https://t.co/ZUwK18NV0q
— Chief Jennings (@cmpdchief) March 9, 2023
Jennings has expressed concern repeatedly when it comes to setting bail. In August, he said there were too many people bonding out of jail on low amounts.
“It's too arbitrary, too much flexibility on what they set their bail for when they have someone come through,” said Jennings.
“And so there's some things that we're working on that we hope to have some legislative changes within the next year or so. And it takes away too much flexibility when they're setting these bails for violent offenders.
State law gives judicial districts a lot of flexibility in coming up with their own bail policies. Mecklenburg County revised its policy three years ago. It ended the practice of tying bond amounts to particular charges in an effort to take defendants’ abilities to pay out of the decision to let them await trial in or out of jail.
Jennings says that makes sense with low-level charges, but not for those repeatedly charged with violent crimes. He says this is a problem throughout the state.
The investigation into the sexual assault is ongoing.
