Carjacking has got to be terrifying for anyone involved. I mean, you’re driving and stop at a stop sign or red light, only to have a gun stuck in your face and someone demanding your vehicle.

It’s one of those crimes that no one plays around with. Or, at least, that’s what I thought.

See, in Maryland, a man has been arrested for doing just that…while supposedly being subject to electronic monitoring for carjacking.

On October 8, 2021, a male suspect arranged to meet the victim after conversing with them through a social media app. They met on a street at a location in Charles County, at which time the suspect pulled out a gun and stole the victim’s vehicle. The suspect fled and the victim called the police. Detectives subsequently identified the suspect as Erion Vann Burton, 20, of Waldorf and obtained an arrest warrant.

A computer check revealed that at the time of the October carjacking, Burton was supposed to be on electronic monitoring. He had been arrested in August of 2020 for an unrelated carjacking case and after he was indicted in June of 2020 for an unrelated second-degree rape. He was initially held without bond for those two crimes.

In April of 2021, a judge released Burton from the Detention Center to electronic monitoring which is managed by private companies. Monitoring companies report directly to the courts and are regulated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety.

Burton failed to appear in court in September for the initial carjacking case and the rape case, at which time the courts issued a warrant for failure to appear and notified the Sheriff’s Office. Members of the Warrant Unit began searching for Burton.

Well, that program just works beautifully, now doesn’t it?

Look, I think electronic monitoring is a useful tool. It helps decrease overcrowding in our correctional facilities by allowing some inmates to be sent home, but still not actually free.

It’s also useful for people awaiting trial, like this dipstick.

However, the ankle devices typically used are supposed to be tamper-proof, or so I thought. In other words, they simply didn’t come off until they were supposed to come off. If that’s true, then Burton shouldn’t have been difficult to find.

Apparently, he was, and as a result, he struck again.

It looks like the judge should have kept Burton’s happy butt locked up. Especially since we were looking at someone accused of rape and carjacking.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in “innocent until proven guilty,” but I also know that when someone is accused of two different criminal acts just a couple of months apart, there’s a good chance he not only did one of those two crimes if not both and that he’ll offend again if he has the opportunity.

As we see here.

Granted, I have the benefit of hindsight, but I still don’t see why Burton was a candidate for this kind of treatment. Then again, the judge may simply not have cared and just thinks this is the way to proceed.

Well, if so, we see how splendidly things shook out, don’t we?