Two brutes accused of randomly pummeling an 82-year-old woman on a Bronx street have been released without bail — even though the violent pair has a combined 18 prior arrests, The Post has learned.
William Ballinger and Tammie Moore — both of whom have lengthy rap sheets — were busted by cops last week and charged with second-and third-degree assault for the vicious Aug. 2 attack on the elderly home health aide in Olinville, police said.
Prosecutors asked that each of the 32-year-old defendants be held on $30,000 cash bail or $90,000 bond during their arraignments in Bronx Criminal Court on Thursday and Friday, the District Attorney’s Office said.
But the judges — Eugene Bowen for Ballinger and Craig Ortner for Moore — decided to cut the suspects loose on supervised release, the DA’s Office said.
It’s not clear why the judges decided to let them walk.
“We don’t comment on release or bail decisions except to say that in cases like these in New York, judges have discretion in making these decisions in accordance with the law and based solely on an individualized assessment of a defendant’s risk of flight,” said Al Baker, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, in a statement.
The victim’s family was outraged by the decisions.
“Why would they do that?” the elderly woman’s daughter said of the judges Monday night.
“I think they should be kept in jail,” she told The Post. “Now that they’re loose, who knows what they’re going to do next. They could do something else. They have handicapped my mom from going out. If she goes out now, who knows.”
Ballinger and Moore are accused of punching the elderly victim several times in an unprovoked assault near East 212th Street and White Plains Road just after 7 p.m., cops said.
The heartless duo threw the woman to the ground, then stomped on her — all without saying a word, according to police.
The victim’s daughter, who did not want to be named, said her mother was depositing bottles when she was attacked.
After a brief exchange between the victim and one of the suspects, they started hitting her.
“Her cheek (is) swollen and everything. They started beating her, oh my god…Hitting on the head, hitting on the legs,” the victim’s daughter said.
The suspects then allegedly ran off toward Holland Avenue, cops said.
They managed to stay on the lam for two weeks before cops collared Ballinger on Wednesday and Moore on Thursday, authorities said.
Meanwhile, authorities brought the victim to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
The family initially didn’t know what happened to their matriarch and even called police before another relative tracked her down to Jacobi.
“When she got (to the hospital), she didn’t even know where she was,” the daughter said, adding her mother is walking and doing better.
Ballinger has been arrested eight times in the past, most recently for drunk driving in the Bronx three years ago.
Moore has 10 prior arrests, mostly for petit larceny in the Bronx, police said.
Bowen, the judge who oversaw Ballinger’s arraignment, is no stranger to controversy.
Last November, he released two brutes accused of pummeling a cop who asked them to put out their cigarettes.
Kaream McClary, 23, and Izayiah Jessamy, 20, had been hit with assault charges for allegedly beating up the officer at the Freeman Street station.
But even though prosecutors requested bail — to the tune of $10,000 cash or $30,000 bond — Bowen cut them loose, prompting the city’s police union head to castigate the decision as “absolutely upside down.”
No one answered at Moore’s apartment on East 212th Street when a reporter knocked Monday afternoon.
At Ballinger’s place on East 219th Street, a woman declined to comment, but said she would call back later.
Both are due back in court Oct. 9.
— Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton
