A California bail reform group has reportedly shut down after the man they posted bail for ended up trying to kill a waiter in Las Vegas.
The Bail Project, a group backed by popular names that include Danny Glover and John Legend, announced it was discontinuing operations to undergo restructuring earlier this December, 8 NewsNow reported.
This developed not long after the group posted a $3,000 bail for a suspect named Rashawn Gaston-Anderson in December 2021.
The outlet added how Gaston-Anderson ended up shooting a waiter, identified as Chengyan Wang, 11 times in Chinatown.
The 24-year-old suspect was convicted of attempted robbery and mayhem, both with deadly weapon enhancements, New 3 Las Vegas reported.
As a result, Gaston-Anderson was sentenced to seven to 18 years in prison for the shooting in December.
Also, the waiter is suing The Bail Project for arranging the release of Gaston-Anderson despite his criminal history. Wang is reportedly seeking over $15,000 in damages from each defendant, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
“He’s got scars all over his body. He can’t move his shoulder over a certain height. I don’t know how (the bullets) missed a vital artery,” the victim’s lawyer, Kory Kaplan, said to the newspaper.
In 2018, the 24-year-old pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in Las Vegas. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
Aside from that, Gaston-Anderson was convicted of felony burglary in New York the following year. In 2021, he was convicted of auto theft in Illinois according to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.
“Normally when bail is posted, a cash bail, it is a family member or friend who is familiar with the accused,” Wolfson stated.
“One can say, in a sense, they are vouching for the person. They are risking their own money. A family member comes forward, a brother, a friend, and if they put up $3,000 and this person doesn’t show up or re-offends, they lose their own money,” he added.
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