VIOLENT SUSPECTS PUT BACK ON STREET

When Robert Korbe was arrested during a countywide drug sweep on Nov.
19, the list of charges facing the 39-year-old Indiana Township man
was impressive.

Korbe, after all, is something of a one-man crime wave with a mug
that resembles human brick Ben Grimm from the old Fantastic Four
comic books. Korbe proved as tough as his looks when he brawled with
10 or so police officers from several departments in the middle of
Main Street in Sharpsburg after leading them on a high-speed chase
in May.

It took several Taser blasts to bring Korbe down that night,
Sharpsburg police Chief Leo Rudzki said, but not before he put one of
the cops in the hospital with a shoulder injury. "We've arrested him
and his brother Billy before, and we're aware there could be a fight
with these two," the chief said.

Now Korbe faces charges in connection with a drug ring and the raid
on his home, an unfortunate scenario in which Korbe's wife has said
she fired a shot from an upstairs landing that struck and killed FBI
Special Agent Samuel Hicks when he came through the front door.

That fatal raid never would have taken place if Korbe had remained in
jail after the brawl with the 10 local cops back in May. It seems
absurd and very wrong that a criminal with an arrest record dating to
1991 not only could beat a whole room full of cops, but could do so
while accidentally dropping 5 ounces of cocaine -- worth about
$140,000 on the street -- out of his pants and still get out on bond.

Not only was Korbe granted bond, he paid the required $25,000 on the
night of his arraignment and hit the streets again hours later, said
Mike Manko, spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney's
Office.

That means Korbe was back in action before the cops' black eyes
ceased swelling, a disturbing development but perfectly within the
letter of the law, Manko said.

"It's only in homicide cases where bond is denied. Otherwise, if a
person has the money, they have to be let go," Manko said.

That may sound crazy to those of us not immersed in the criminal
justice system, but everyone I spoke with seemed to agree that
payment of cash bail in exchange for freedom is a hallmark of the
legal system.

"We'd like to use bond as a punishment, but we can't," was how Chief
Rudzki put it.

Allegheny County District Judge Richard King said it is rare for even
violent criminals to be denied bail and, had he arraigned Korbe, he
would have issued bond.

"This has always been a part of our justice system," he
explained.

Maybe so, but it stinks to know that however violent a criminal may
be, and regardless of how much dope they peddle or how much butt they
kick, the right amount of cash can always get them back on the streets.