Authorities are searching for a man arrested for his alleged role in the shooting of Lady Gaga’s dog walker and the theft of her French bulldogs that happened last year.
The suspect, James Howard Jackson, was in custody for attempted murder but was mistakenly released from custody on Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.
He was in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center just a day before his release, which was due to “a clerical error,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office gave a statement to KTLA saying: “Mr. Jackson was arraigned on a superseding indictment filed in court under a new case number. The old case was then dismissed by a judge as required by law.”
The new indictment was to “speed up the legal process,” officials elaborated.
The defendant was then released from custody by the Sheriff’s Department.
“We are unsure as to why they did so, however our office is working with the Sheriff’s Department to take Mr. Jackson back into custody,” a subsequent statement from the D.A.’s Office said.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at 213-229-1850.
The pop singer’s dog walker was shot while walking three of her dogs in Hollywood on Feb. 25, 2021.
According to authorities, multiple people were involved in the attack. A car had pulled up to the dog walker near Sunset Boulevard that evening and two men jumped out. Jackson is the one accused of firing the single shot that landed the victim in the hospital before they got away with two dogs, the Associated Press reported. The third dog had run off.
The district attorney’s office said Jackson, Jaylin White, and Lafayette Whaley were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery. The Los Angeles Police Department has said the trio are documented gang members.
A woman identified as Jennifer McBride later returned the two dogs unharmed to an L.A. police station. She turned out to be in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, who was identified as Harold White. Both the father and McBride were charged with accessory after the fact to attempted murder, according to the DA.
Gaga’s dog walker survived the attack.
