Bond set at $250,000 for Texas hit-and-run suspect accused of letting man die in her garage

Saturday, March 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ The suspect in what authorities say is one of the most inhumane crimes they have ever seen was a Girl Scout who cared for babies at her church and took nursing classes in college, her family says.

But authorities say Chante J. Mallard's relatives don't truly know the woman, charged with murder after a homeless man she hit died in her garage, his body lodged in her car's windshield.

After some of her family testified at a bond hearing Friday, state District Judge James R. Wilson raised Mallard' bond to $250,000. He said if Mallard posts bail, she must be under house arrest, wear an electronic monitor, continue counseling, avoid alcohol and undergo drug testing.

Wilson also imposed a gag order in the case.

Mallard, who had been released on $10,000 bail after her arrest Wednesday, cried in the courtroom and was taken into custody after the hearing Friday. She remained in the Tarrant County Jail early Saturday.

Prosecutors had said the previous bond was too low.

``It is no secret that the community is outraged by the offense of the defendant ... and I'd remind the court this is a murder charge,'' said Richard Alpert, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney.

Mallard, 25, told police she struck a man along a Fort Worth highway near her house one night in October, then drove home with his head lodged in the broken windshield, according to an affidavit.

She ignored his cries for help as he bled to death over the next two days in her garage, police said. Her friends then dumped the stranger's body in a park, authorities said.

Mallard faces up to life in prison if convicted. Police say they expect more arrests in the case.

Gregory Glenn Biggs' body was found Oct. 27. Authorities suspected he had been hit by a car, but they had no leads until a tipster came forward last week. Mallard allegedly told the tipster that she had been drinking and using drugs that night.

Authorities say Biggs, 37, would have lived if he had received medical attention. His legs were broken and he suffered cuts, but he had no internal injuries, according to the medical examiner's office.

Mike Heiskell, Mallard's attorney, asked the judge Friday to set the bond based on the case, not community outrage. He said previous bond was set by a ``neutral and detached'' magistrate.

He called on Mallard's parents and one of her older brothers, a Fort Worth Fire Department lieutenant, to testify that she would not be a flight risk.

James E. Mallard Sr. cried on the stand, saying the family was hardworking, close-knit and attended church together. He said his daughter has been staying with him and his wife, Dorothy, since the arrest.

``We want to keep her there with us,'' he said.

But when questioned by prosecutors, Chante Mallard's relatives acknowledged they did not know her boyfriend or her friends and had not been to her house in months.

Her relatives also said they did not know exactly where Mallard worked and when, and why she had at least three jobs in three years.

``It's evident her family cares about her, but they don't know her,'' Alpert told the judge.