Last Wednesday, as part of the state's effort to save money in the corrections agency, a parole agent removed a GPS tracking device from Lawrence Lamar Jackio, a 20-year-old gang member on parole for burglary.

The next day, Jackio, who is known as "Poopie," allegedly made his way to Palm Grove Drive in Rancho Cordova, where authorities say he took part in a burglary and home invasion that turned into a gunbattle with the homeowner.

By the time it was over, Jackio's alleged partner was shot in the head, the homeowner was wounded in the hip and Jackio had been shot in a leg.

Obviously, this was not the result the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had hoped for as it began implementing its cost-cutting measures last month.

"The department uses a variety of tools to monitor and supervise individuals who are living in our communities while on parole," corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said in an email response Thursday to questions about the case. "Although effective overall, none of these tools can fully predict or prevent an act of an individual, especially a person that might not have regard for the law.

"There are many successes our parole agents have daily with parolees, but there are still others who make poor choices and must be held accountable for their actions."

Hidalgo said Jackio had his GPS device removed after he was evaluated and found to rank as a "2" on a risk scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being low risk and 4 the highest risk.

Jackio also was employed and had a stable residence, he said, adding that "it's difficult to confirm that somehow the removal of the GPS unit may have led to this individual's actions that particular day."

But Christine Ward, director of the Crime Victims Action Alliance, predicted the case will be the first of many as the state cuts deeply into how it supervises parolees.

"Basically, what the state is doing to save money by putting public safety at risk is ridiculous," Ward said. "Balancing the budget on the backs of victims and law-abiding citizens is not the way to go when trying to come up with a balanced budget."

Corrections officials say they have few choices as they seek ways to save money. The program to monitor gang members who are on parole was started last year, and resulted in 950 of them being fitted with GPS tracking devices.

In an effort to cut $6 million in costs by July 1, however, the state began removing the devices last month from 450 of them. In Sacramento County, 40 of the 60 who were being monitored – including Jackio – had their tracking devices removed.

Jackio, who recovered from his leg wound, is being held without bail at the Sacramento County jail on charges of burglary, assault with a handgun and attempted murder.

Court files show a lengthy criminal history for Jackio that began with a July 2005 burglary arrest and referral to juvenile hall. Since then, he has faced charges of burglary, robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime, robbery involving a firearm, failure to obey a court order and numerous other counts, court files indicate.

Most were dismissed in the "furtherance of justice," court records say.

The offense for which Jackio was on parole was a July 13, 2009, residential burglary in which he made off with $880 in cash and jewelry, court records state.

He pleaded no contest in a deal that got him a two-year prison sentence, and Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gary E. Ransom, a no-nonsense type, warned him that the matter was "both a serious felony and a strike" under the state's "three-strikes" law.

Ransom then offered him some advice as he sent him off to the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy.

"Now, Mr. Jackio, you're young enough to outlive this," Ransom told him. "You've got to be smart enough and odds are you're gonna have to find a new set of friends.

"See you later."

Jackio was released Jan. 6, 10 days before he turned 20, and apparently stayed out of serious trouble until last week, after his GPS tracking device was removed.

Sacramento County sheriff's investigators believe Jackio had been free of the device for one day when he and an accomplice went to the 9900 block of Palm Grove Drive last Thursday.

At 3 a.m., a 28-year-old woman who lived there came home with her infant child and went into the garage, where one of the suspects came up behind her and clubbed her over the head, possibly with a pistol, Deputy Jason Ramos said.

The child's father inside the home heard the attack and came out armed and firing to defend his home and family, Ramos said.

Jackio's alleged accomplice was shot in the head and remains hospitalized and unconscious. The homeowner was shot in the hip, and authorities believe Jackio was shot in the leg at the scene and limped away to a waiting car.

He showed up later at Mercy San Juan Medical Center with a phony name and no explanation for his injuries. "He wasn't giving information about what happened or where it happened," Ramos said.

Jackio's true identity was discovered a short time later when a woman showed up saying her boyfriend was there for a gunshot wound and asking for him by name, Ramos said.

His next court date is set for Wednesday, and he faces the prospect of not having to worry about wearing a GPS device again – for quite some time.

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