George Albert Hodge is a violent career criminal with eight previous felony convictions. He was charged with new crimes last October. Despite his record, Criminal District Court Judge Jason Luong gave Hodge a free pass. He granted him a personal recognizance bond for felony evading. Hodge was ordered to return to court two weeks later for violating the terms of his bond but simply did not show up.
Then, on November 3rd, he arrived at a motel in a stolen car. He began knocking on doors and robbing people. Greg Downs, 61, saw what was happening and wrote down the license plate number on the stolen car.
Then Downs was stabbed to death. Hodge fled the scene in the stolen car, while Downs died in the hospital the next day. Police say the license plate number he wrote down led to the eventual re-capture of Hodge.
