Harold Stumpf was emotional speaking about his nephew’s attack this summer in South Dallas.
The nephew suffered broken bones after being kicked in the torso area, as well as facial injuries and internal bleeding, Stumpf said. The 23-year-old spent several days recovering from his injuries in a local hospital.
“He’s a good kid. He works; he just got a promotion. He treats people with respect,” Stumpf said. “He is blameless. Wrong place, wrong time.”
Stumpf said the blame lies at the alleged attacker’s feet, but also with Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot for allowing the assailant to roam free after posting a low bail.
“That man should never have been out on bail,” Stumpf told The Dallas Express. “The DA’s office knew his history and still allowed him to go free.”
The Dallas Express reached out to the Dallas Police Department to confirm Stumpf’s statements, but the DPD did not immediately respond to an email. The Dallas County jail database does not show information for the alleged attacker.
The nephew, who declined to be identified or interviewed, is only one victim of many who suffered horrific violence at the hands of someone released on low bail.
In 2020, Jerry Ford was released on bond after threatening a woman with his fist and saying he would kill her while swinging a machete. After being released on a $2,500 bond, he killed the victim with a hunting knife.
A year earlier, David Cadena attacked a woman in a parking garage after being released on bond.
In June of this year, Peter Nicholas III was charged with assault on a pregnant woman after he stabbed his pregnant fiancée in front of her 6-year-old son. Nicholas was out on bond after being indicted on a murder charge in late 2019 and released on bond days later for allegedly killing his wife in a downtown Dallas hotel.
When asked about how bail reform is working, Creuzot told The Washington Post in August, “I think we’re doing a good job.”
Creuzot also told The Washington Post that state law requires people accused of violent crimes to put up cash to obtain bail. The DA thinks bond reform should focus on keeping people out of the system, keeping families together, and keeping them employed; putting up cash is a challenge for lower-income people.
But Stumpf has questions of his own.
“Why wasn’t the man who attacked [his nephew] still in jail,” he asked. “Did he slip through the cracks of the [judiciary] system?”