Duo Who Pointed Rifles At Western MA Police Already Out On Bail

What is the Commonwealth coming to? How is it that two serious miscreants who already have several other open cases against them, get out of jail on ridiculously low bail after pointing assault rifles at law enforcement officers??? What am I missing here?

You can't make this stuff up, my friends. On April 7, two men, Mario Salcedo, 24, and Joseph Cruz-Salcedo, 19, both of Springfield, allegedly pointed rifles at police officers who were performing a routine traffic stop. They are already back out on the streets. The Hampden District Attorney would like to know why.

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Anthony Gulluni, Hampden District Attorney, via a post on Facebook wants to know the answer to a very good question. If the job of the courts is to keep people safe and to hold violent offenders accountable for their actions, then why would you set a "shockingly low bail" for two men with a track record of violent crime to allow them back on the street and be a serious threat to the general public?

According to Gulluni, at approximately 10:15 p.m. on April 7, Springfield police officers, conducting a routine traffic stop near the intersection of High and School streets, noticed two men in front of a nearby building pointing assault rifles at the police and the driver of the vehicle.

Then, according to Gulluni's Facebook post:

As they were pointing the rifles, one individual yelled, “Come over here, you are about to get splattered.” Given the nature of the situation, being outnumbered, and receiving an explicit threat, the officers immediately called for backup.

Backup arrived and the suspects were eventually secured and arrested. Now, it should be noted, that once officers recovered the weapons they learned that they were air rifles. However, they were designed and colored in order to look real.

The two men were bost arrested and charged with three counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, one count Interfering with a Police Officer, one count Disorderly Conduct, and two counts Threat to Commit a Crime. Cruz-Salcedo was also charged with Resisting Arrest.

Apparently, the District Attorney's Office requested $50,000 bail and also filed motions for bail to be revoked for each defendant both of whom had several pending serious cases. Those motions were denied by the court and bail was set at $1,000 for both men. They are due back in court in June.

For more on the story and more from DA Gulluni on his thoughts regarding the outcome, check out the Facebook post here.