A 21-year-old Columbia, Pennsylvania man was already wanted for stabbing someone when he allegedly committed another stabbing and a sexual assault — and the system didn't catch up to him until Saturday morning, when multiple agencies finally took Jared T. Gower into custody.
This is the pattern that leaves ordinary Americans asking who, exactly, the justice system is designed to protect. A warrant existed. The suspect walked free. More people were hurt.
According to the Mechanicsburg Patriot News, Gower had an active arrest warrant for a July 16 stabbing in West Hempfield Township. A court docket filed Friday — nearly a week after that first incident — shows he was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of a weapon. But charges and warrants are just paper if nobody enforces them. By Saturday morning, Gower was wanted for a separate stabbing and a sexual assault as well.
Columbia police and what they described as "numerous" neighboring agencies made the arrest Saturday. Police did not release exact locations or details about any of the incidents, and it remains unclear whether additional charges will follow for the second stabbing and the sexual assault.
The questions write themselves. Why did it take from July 16 until Saturday to apprehend a man with an active warrant for violent stabbing offenses? Was there a bail determination on the first set of charges, and if so, what was it? Who decided the public could wait?
Gower is now incarcerated at Lancaster County Prison after failing to post $500,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for July 28. The docket already on file covers only the initial charges — aggravated assault, trespass, reckless endangerment, weapons possession — not the additional stabbing and sexual assault that prompted Saturday's arrest.
Investigators say further information will be released. The public will be watching to see whether those details include any explanation for the gap between the warrant and the arrest — the gap during which more violence occurred.
Paper warrants don't stop knives. Until someone answers for the delay, Lancaster County residents are left with the same question that follows every one of these cases: what was the system doing between the first attack and the second?
