Guarding Public Safety, removed capital murder suspect, Clint Walker’s GPS ankle monitor on September 19 due to unpaid fees. Walker, 27, was recaptured on October 2
A Texas company removed a capital murder suspect’s GPS ankle monitor last month due to unpaid fees.
According to a letter written by Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, the company in question, Guarding Public Safety, allowed a representative to remove Clint Walker’s GPS monitor on September 19.
Walker, 27, was recaptured on October 2.
Walker is accused of fatally shooting 59-year-old Enrique Garcia in 2016 during a botched robbery of a game room. Garcia was the security guard on duty at the time.
In June, Walker was released on a $100,000 surety bond and required to wear a GPS ankle monitor as a condition for his release.
According to Ogg’s letter, which was sent to Teresa May, the Harris County Community Supervision & Corrections Department director, Walker was required to pay Guarding Public Safety a monthly fee.
That monthly fee ranged from about $280 to $300. Walker would have started paying the monthly fee in July, which would have put him behind about three months in payments, equating to about $840 to $900.
However, Walker got behind on the dues and the company sent a representative to his home to remove the device.
Walker (pictured in 2016 during robbery) is accused of fatally shooting 59-year-old Enrique Garcia in 2016 during a botched robbery of a game room
Garcia was the security guard on duty at the time. Garcia’s son, Hugo (right), is seen holding up a photo of his father
The company in question, Guarding Public Safety, allowed a representative to remove Clint Walker’s GPS monitor (file image) on September 19. Walker was recaptured on October 2
‘As a result, the vendor discontinued all electronic monitoring without an order from the court,’ Ogg wrote.
‘While courts rely on electronic monitoring as a means of ensuring defendants’ appearances in court and safety of victims and the community, the troubling loophole exposed in this case shows that defendants in Harris County may have the ability to evade electronic supervision by simply failing to pay their GPS vendor,’ Ogg wrote.
She said the vendor’s removal of the monitor ‘exposed the public to a high-risk, unmonitored offender’ for two weeks.
Ogg and her office have identified 173 cases where individuals are out on bond for murder.
First Assistant District Attorney David Mitcham told KHOU that ‘if they are required to wear a GPS device, we want that condition of bond maintained’.
‘And we have notified the proper authorities to look into this matter to make sure this is not a widespread problem,’ he added.
A DailyMail.com request for comment to Guarding Public Safety was not immediately returned, neither was a request for comment to May’s office.
However, May did tell the station Walker’s situation was the first she’s ever heard of something like this happening in the 20 years that she’s worked in the field.
She also said the her department should have been contacted before the company removed the GPS monitor, adding that the ‘vendor was immediately terminated because of serious violations of memorandum of understanding’.
According to a letter written by Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg ,which was sent to Teresa May, the Harris County Community Supervision & Corrections Department director, Walker was required to pay Guarding Public Safety a monthly fee of between $280 to $300
Ogg said the vendor’s removal of the monitor ‘exposed the public to a high-risk, unmonitored offender’ for two weeks. Ogg and her office have identified 173 cases where individuals are out on bond for murder