It took a murder rap for a New York City judge to lock up this dangerous accused career criminal.
Tony Harris — a Bronx man with over two dozen busts on his rap sheet — caught a break in June when he was freed without bail in a felony gun case, according to law enforcement sources and court records.
Authorities said Harris, 62, was busted with two loaded guns and a massive stash of ammunition and drugs, court documents show.
But apparently neither the terrifying allegations nor Harris’ lengthy rap sheet were enough for Judge Anna Mikhaleva, who released him without bail but under supervision, which included an ankle bracelet that would allow authorities to track him, sources said.
Harris was still wearing the court-ordered monitoring gear when he allegedly shot and killed 56-year-old Emilio Rosas outside a Bronx deli last week, according to the sources.
He was finally locked up on Rikers Island following that arrest.
Harris has been arrested 26 times on charges including robbery, drug and gun possession, burglary, possession of burglar tools and menacing and strangulation, according to sources.
In the June 17 bust, Harris was hit with felony gun and drug charges after cops executed a search warrant at his Prospect Avenue apartment and found a loaded .25-caliber Glock handgun and a loaded 9mm pistol hidden in the headboard of his bed, according to a criminal complaint.
Cops said they also found a stash of .32-caliber and .22-caliber bullets hidden in the apartment, as well as three pipes and 63 vials of crack and crack residue, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said cops went to the apartment to arrest Harris on domestic violence charges after he allegedly scratched the neck of his partner, and “was barricaded in his home for hours.”
In court, prosecutors with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office asked in vain for Mikhaleva to hold Harris on $100,000 bail or $300,000 bond on the gun charges and $15,000 or $45,000 on a misdemeanor domestic violence rap.
Records show that Harris did return to court for scheduled appearances in the case — the most recent on Jan. 22 — but remained free without bail while the case was pending.
He was still free on Feb. 17, when police said he shot Rosas in the chest, killing him.
“A man was killed because a woke judge did not do her job,” one law enforcement source seethed.
“This judge should be removed from the bench and taken to Rikers Island,” said another source, a Bronx cop. “Letting a suspect out after he is arrested with two guns, ammunition, drugs, and strangling his girlfriend is criminal.”
Prosecutors said that when cops went to arrest Harris for the fatal shooting, he barricaded himself in the same Prospect Avenue apartment for hours.
He was ultimately busted and charged with murder, manslaughter and illegal weapons possession.
During a court appearance Wednesday, Judge Audrey Stone finally revoked Harris’ bail in the earlier gun and drugs case.
“It’s our position that he posed an increased risk of flight because when he was being arrested for the new matter, he was barricaded in his home for hours,” Assistant District Attorney Sharlene Disla told the court.
“The police had to call ESU and ask for us to get a search warrant in order to get him into custody for this new matter.”
The ADA pointed out that Harris has access to firearms — “something that the court is allowed to consider” when deciding whether to set bail — as well as prior felony and misdemeanor convictions, including on criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Stone said a condition of Harris’ supervised release was that he not be in possession of a weapon — a condition that had clearly been violated with the fatal shooting.
The judge also blew up in court when Harris’ lawyer called the murder indictment “hearsay.”
“How is an indictment hearsay? It is an official court document representing a vote of members of the public, who must find reasonable cause based on substantial evidence,” Stone said.
“That’s not just words,” she added. “That’s a representation from the district attorney’s office that a grand jury has been presented with significant evidence, substantial enough to have indicted Mr. Harris on the top charge of murder in the second degree. So, in terms of evidence, there is evidence.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the state Office of Court Administration, which oversees the judicial system in the Empire State, declined to discuss Mikhaleva’s decision to release Harris in June.
“We don’t comment on bail decisions except to say that in cases like these in New York, Judges have discretion in making bail decisions in accordance with the law and based solely on an individualized assessment of a defendant’s risk of flight,” the rep said.
