Police: Suspect On The Loose in Bergen County After Cutting Off Monitoring Bracelet
MAHWAH, NJ (CBSNewYork) -- Police in Bergen County are warning residents to be on the lookout for a man they say escaped from custody on Thursday.
It was 33-year-old Paul Kramer who, police say, decided possibly 15 years behind bars was too much. He allegedly jumped bail, doing so by cutting off an electronic monitoring bracelet from his ankle.
"The bracelets are not that hard to cut off and are monitored, but usually the people given these bracelets are considered low risk," Chief James Batelli told CBS 2's John Slattery.
In this case, the risk was apparently greater than a judge had thought. Kramer, who was staying at his parents' home in Mahwah, had pleaded guilty to stabbing an acquaintance several times in the neck in May 2009. He pleaded guilty last month, and was to be sentenced next month.
A condition of his bail was to wear a monitoring bracelet on his ankle.
Thursday morning, police say, he took off in his mother's Chrysler, tossing the bracelet out the window. Severing the bracelet sent a signal to the Bergen County Sheriff's office.
"About 10 or 15 minutes after he cut it off, they notified us and we responded. The mother said he'd just left in his pajamas," Batelli said.
Police located the mother's car about a mile away in Suffern, N.Y., near a quarry. This discovery prompted a search of the water, with the concern being that Kramer might have harmed himself.
The car was left not far from a bus stop and a rail station.
Kramer is 6-foot, with brown hair and green eyes. If caught, he will face additional charges of tampering with a bracelet, escape, and interstate flight to avoid apprehention.
Police say if you see Kramer, do not approach him as he's considered to be dangerous.
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