Altizer's most recent photo, as shown on the Va. Sex Offender database on Aug. 12, 2009, when he registered as a sex offender in the state of Va.
The Blacksburg Police Department has apprehended an armed sex offender after a roughly two-hour manhunt, according to a recent VT Alert message.
Andy William Altizer was armed with a knife, a press release said. Blacksburg Police sought Altizer near Givens Lane for about two hours.
Altizer has been a registered sex offender in the states of Va. and Fla., according to the Va. and Fla. sex offender databases. He moved to Blacksburg in Aug. of 2009.
Altizer was convicted of attempted second-degree rape in North Carolina in 1995. He was charged with public swearing and intoxication as well as peeping into a dwelling through a door this past March. A hearing for those charges is scheduled for July.
The VT Alert system was activated to warn the community of the search and was utilized a second time to notify the public of Altizer's arrest.
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Altizer registered with the sex offender registry when he moved to Blacksburg. The federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act standardizes the reporting and registration procedures that are required. These are federal standards, not state. Try to get a law for constant monitoring past the Supreme Court and see what happens. All the sex offender registry does is make it convenient to see if any live nearby, but it is all derived from public information, just compiled in a more easily searchable format. That's a bit different from being able to sit at your computer and track every offender as they walk down the street. If you're that afraid, I suggest that you move, never leave the house, or take the time to train and educate yourself on the proper use of a firearm and obtain a license.
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Martha Stewart was required to wear a monitor during her sentence. This guy may have been, too. But at this point he has served his time, and the national standard is that after the sentence has passed, registration is the only residual requirement. Why are you even focusing on his sex offender status anyway? Plenty of other ex-cons (or never-cons) could carry a knife and not be registered on any list. What should we do about them? Hello Minority Report.
As a side note, Cho did go through a background check (through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System - a federal system run by the FBI, not the state).
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So what did he do that initiated the manhunt?
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According to the Roanoke Times, it was a parole violation that started the whole thing. http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/breaking/wb/247938
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Hopefully he never sees the light of day again.
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I mean, how many chances does he deserve?
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