A transgender serial arsonist was charged with armed robbery within two hours of being freed without bail by a New York judge.
Amanda Burnside, a Southampton man who claims to be a “woman,” was in court after being arrested for lighting fires at three houses.
After the judge let him walk free, he ignited a new investigation less than two hours later on armed robbery charges, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Burnside was released on his own recognizance despite prosecutors’ request that the judge set bail at $500,000 or $1 million bond.
A judge ordered him to report for supervised release within 72 hours.
Instead, according to authorities, he waited less than two hours before acquiring a knife.
He then went into a Dollar Tree store and tried to rob it.
The fiasco prompted District Attorney Ray Tierney to blast the state’s bail laws.
Tierney is the lead prosecutor in the Gilgo Beach serial killer case.
“Clearly, the dangerousness of this defendant, who allegedly tried to ignite three homes on fire, was not adequately considered, given that within two hours of [his] arraignment, [he] allegedly committed another serious, violent felony,” Tierney said Monday night.
“Furthermore, the danger that this defendant posed to society could never be adequately considered insofar as dangerousness is not a bail factor that judges can consider under New York State law.”
New York’s radical bail reform laws have been a major issue for the state’s Democrats and local jurisdictions.
Suffolk County Republican Ed Romaine will become the first GOP county executive in 20 years after last week’s election win.
Romaine has campaigned relentlessly against soft-on-crime policies.
Ads supporting his campaign bluntly told county residents, “We don’t need another liberal.”
Republicans now control all countywide seats in Suffolk and Nassau counties, two large suburbs east of New York City.
The GOP also controls all four congressional seats in the region.
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