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Bounty hunter reality show tracks down viewers for Latino channel www.privateofficer.com
Los Angeles California April 29 2013 The star of this reality show is a Mexican immigrant who carries pink handcuffs.
The bounty hunter show “Fugitivos de la Ley: Los Angeles” boasts a cast that includes two real-life federal agents and a fireplug of a man, a former U.S. Marine from Riverside. There’s also a 29-year-old firefighter who grew up in Pacoima and is nicknamed “Bombero” — Spanish for fireman — and a German shepherd named Cooper
Fugitivos” is an attempt by the small bilingual cable channel Mun2 to boost its profile by tapping into the richness of L.A.’s Latino population to find compelling characters and stories.
“We are not your Hollywood-looking people, but we are as real as it gets,” said Roman Morales III, 48, the former Marine, who also is a former federal police officer and the father of five.
Cast members have real-life experience collaring criminals. The one with the pink handcuffs is Liliana Monique Covarrubias, a single mother who was born in Mexico, grew up in South L.A., received police training at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier and now works for Lipstick Bail Bonds.
“I was just some chick, but they said they didn’t want an actress,” said Covarrubias, the only female cast member. “I love the show because it sets an example: If you do something wrong, we’re going to catch you.”
The show feels a bit like the former Fox series “Cops” or A&E’s “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” But for legal reasons, the chases depicted on “Fugitivos” are dramatizations, reenactments by the cast members and actors hired to play the bad guys. The cases are based on the group’s actual experiences.
“We wanted to do a deep dive into an area where there happened to be a lot of Latino professionals,” said Diana Mogollon, general manager of Mun2. “And we set the show in Los Angeles because we wanted to make it feel realistic and specific to the region.”
TV audiences have responded. “Fugitivos” has helped Mun2 grow its Sunday night first-quarter ratings 26% from the first quarter of 2012.
The tiny cable channel, owned by media giant NBCUniversal, is one of the few Latino networks headquartered in Los Angeles, even though L.A. is home to the nation’s largest Latino population. Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo, Mun2′s big sister network, are in Miami.
But two-thirds of Latinos in the U.S. are of Mexican descent, making Los Angeles more representative of the country’s Latino population. That should give L.A. an edge as TV companies struggle to figure out how to engage young, bilingual Latinos, who are increasingly important to marketers.
“Being in L.A. gives us a unique advantage. You can’t be in Hispanic media and not understand the L.A. market,” Mogollon said. “One out of every two teenagers in L.A. is Hispanic.”
But Mun2 has never been a priority for the companies that have owned it. The channel’s resources long have been strained. According to consulting firm SNL Kagan, Mun2 generated about $54 million in revenue last year, about evenly split between ad revenue and programming fees paid by cable operators.
SNL Kagan estimated that the channel’s 2012 programming budget was $30 million — roughly half the amount that its sister network NBC spent to produce a season of a single show, the big-budget musical “Smash.” Comcast Corp., NBCUniversal’s owner, has pledged to invest more in its Latin networks.
Mun2′s viewership grew 24% last year over 2011 levels, but Nielsen estimates the network attracts a mere 100,000 viewers in prime time.
Its primary obstacle has been its limited distribution. Five years ago, Mun2 was available in 15 million homes. Now, it is available in 39 million homes, just over a third of all homes in the U.S. that subscribe to pay TV. The bilingual channel sometimes is offered only as part of a Spanish-language package.
“We need to grow, and we need scale,” Mogollon said. “Mun2 has always been a gem, and people are recognizing our value proposition. [As Latinos] we’re taking over the Vatican, we’re electing the U.S. president. Latinos are not just some niche market.”
The median age of Mun2′s audience is 29, making it attractive to advertisers who chase younger consumers.
After trying to create an identity with music videos and reruns of Telemundo’s prime-time soaps, Mun2 found its voice with the help of the late Latin music star Jenni Rivera, who died in December in a plane crash in Mexico. The network is running the final season of her reality show, “I Love Jenni,” with footage shot before her death.
“Jenni was a game changer for the network,” Mogollon said. “She really planted a flag in biculturalism — living in two worlds and speaking two languages, Spanish and English, which is a large part of our identity as Latinos.”
Source- Los Angeles Times
Michigan bounty hunter gets community service on extortion charge www.privateofficer.com
FORT COLLINS CO Dec 18 2012 — A Michigan bounty hunter was sentenced to probation and community service for an extortion charge stemming from his contact with a Loveland man.
Chad Russell Farquhar, 39, stopped in Loveland to arrest a man wanted in Michigan on a misdemeanor traffic warrant while en route to Wyoming to pick up a fugitive for a Jackson, Mich, bail bonds company.
The man and his family alleged that Farquar took him into custody then offered to release him for drugs and money, according to Loveland police reports. Authorities arrested and charged Farquar with kidnapping and extortion.
In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the kidnapping charge and Farquhar pleaded guilty to extortion. Friday, Judge Stephen Schapanski sentenced Farquhar to three years probation and 60 hours community service.
Mobile Alabama bounter hunter arrested for posing as police officer www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE, Alabama Dec 7 2012– A bounty hunter with ties to Birmingham pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he targeted people in the criminal justice system in Mobile County, posed as a police officer and then hit them up for money.
One of the alleged victims complained, setting off an investigation by the Prichard police and the District Attorney’s Office. Court records indicate that Briskett was living at a residence on Airport Boulevard in Mobile, but he also has listed a Birmingham address in the recent past. Blackwood said the allegations are unusual. “It’s absolutely bizarre,” he said. “I’ve never come across anybody like Eddie Briskett. We will prosecute his behavior to the fullest extent of the law.”
Source:AL.com
Oregon haven for wanted fugitives www.privateofficer.com
Bounty hunter charged with false arrest, rape www.privateofficer.com
Owner of bail bond company charged with hiring convicted felon as bounty hunter www.privateofficer.com
Fake NJ bounty hunter kidnaps woman, extorts cash bail www.privateofficer.com
NJ bounty hunter pleads guilty in scheme www.privateofficer.com
Bounty hunter charged with selling stolen guns www.privateofficer.com
Charleston police were dispatched Wednesday afternoon to the Go-Mart truck stop in Kanawha City after receiving a report of a person possibly selling guns in the parking lot.
Patrol officers detained Charles Kevin Cook, 39, of Pineville and two others, who were not named in the criminal complaint on file at Kanawha Magistrate Court.
Detective J.F. Taylor also responded to check the serial numbers on the weapons. One of the firearms, an Intratec 9-millimeter, was reported stolen from the New Albany Police Department in Indiana.
Cook told officers he received the gun in a trade a few days earlier.
Further inspection of Cook’s vehicle revealed blue lights mounted in the front and back of his vehicle. Cook is self-employed as a bounty hunter and is not associated with any law enforcement agency.
He was charged with transferring and receiving stolen goods and illegal possession of restricted lamps.
Cook is being held at South Central Regional Jail on $15,000 bond.
Virginia bounty hunter shot to death www.privateofficer.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. Aug 12 2012
Mike Henegar prayed that the guy on the ground was still alive.
Moments earlier, a pair of gunshots pierced the dull silence of midnight at Brookside Estates mobile home park off of U.S. Highway 421.
Henegar stepped outside and a woman begged to use his cell phone. She dialed 911 but was too hysterical to talk.
That’s when the emergency dispatcher on the line said someone had to check for a pulse. Someone had to see if the man on the ground was still alive.
The man stared unblinking at the sky, his legs twisted, his arms spread in opposite directions with a pistol still clutched in one hand.
“I agreed to do it,” Henegar said of carrying out the dispatcher’s directive. “There was no pulse.”
Bounty hunter Joshua Scott Horne, 32, of Bristol, Tenn., died early Friday of a single shot from his own gun while trying to arrest the wrong person.
Witnesses said Horne ran up to his target, aimed his pistol and yelled that the guy was under arrest. Bristol Tennessee Police said the two men struggled over the weapon and multiple shots were fired.
Police said they are still piecing together the struggle and will let the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office make the call on whether to file charges. Investigators have not named the second person involved in the shooting.
“There’s too many unanswered questions at this point to make a decision on charges,” Capt. Charlie Thomas said.
A private, home-surveillance video obtained by the Bristol Herald Courier shows a pickup truck driving along the mobile home park’s Madeline Drive just minutes after midnight and vanishing from view. Seconds later, Horne, wearing shorts, can be seen sprinting after the truck.
Dogs are heard barking. Then there’s yelling from somewhere outside of the camera’s view and the dogs go quiet.
Suddenly, a gunshot erupts.
A resident then walks past the camera and disappears in the direction of the truck and Horne.
There’s more yelling, and then a final gunshot.
One bullet grazed Horne’s target just under his right eye, police report, and he’s since been treated at Bristol Regional Medical Center and released.
Police did not say where Horne was struck. But witness William Wesley Henson, the resident seen walking in the video, said Horne was shot in the chest.
The struggle began in the cab of the pickup truck, Henson said. Both men, their hands still on the pistol, then fell to the ground and rolled to rear of the pickup before stopping partially under the truck bed.
“The other guy [the target] had his finger on the trigger and rolled the gun around and Boom! Right in [Horne’s] chest,” Henson said.
Brookside Estates residents said they know the target only as Dave, and that he lives on disability because of medical problems with his legs.
Horne, a freelance bounty hunter, was hunting a fugitive for Kingsport-based Tri-City Bonding. A company official refused to field a reporter’s queries said he had spoken to investigators and referred all questions to police.
A search of Bristol, Va., court records shows that Horne had felony convictions for credit card theft and probation violations. A search of Sullivan County court records shows a string of traffic violations and an Aug. 5, 2012, arrest on a charge of driving on a revoked license.
Residents said Horne first scoped out the mobile home for several hours while waiting for his target to come home from work. The bounty hunter had an arrest warrant with him and showed a copy of the form to anyone who cared to look.
One resident, who requested anonymity, said that Horne promised no one would get hurt that night and said he didn’t have a gun.
Henson said Horne initially arrived with four other men. But the men left and Horne stayed behind in his car, which was parked in Henson’s driveway.
“I knew somebody was going to get hurt,” Henson said. “It never should have happened.”
Henson and his brother, who lives within yards of where the struggle happened and stepped outside after hearing the shots, tackled Horne’s target. Henson, who was bit in the ensuing fight, used a set of handcuffs he spotted near Horne’s body to shackle and subdue the target.
Surveillance video shows the two brothers handing their suspect over to police.
“I left the weapon up there,” one brother yells. “I’ve got him handcuffed.”
The man in the center, wearing handcuffs, then yells to police: “Hey! I want to talk to somebody.”
A police officer strides into the camera’s view.
“Who shot who?” she asks.
The handcuffed man replies: “He shot me first … in the head.”
Source:tri-cities.com
Bounty Hunter Chases Down Wrong Man, Faces Assault Charge www.privateofficer.com
Police found 43-year-old Charles Ray Damrow, of Farmington, with a black collapsible baton on his belt, pink chain handcuffs and a pocketknife, Sgt. Michael Glassberg wrote in the charging documents.
Damrow came to officers’ attention at 5:40 a.m. June 29 when police rushed to a garage in the 12th Avenue North alley, near the Hopkins Library, in response to a report of an assault in progress.
Officers arrived to find Damrow walking away from an unoccupied SUV, with the baton on his belt. They ordered him at gunpoint to put his hands in the air and lay on the ground, then seized the baton and pocketknife.
There was also an unidentified husband and wife at the scene. Police noted the woman was crying hysterically and her hands were shaking, according to the charging documents. The man said he and his wife were rearranging their vehicles to leave for work when they saw a vehicle stop in the library parking lot.
Damrow then got out of the vehicle and began running across the alley at them “with some type of stick above his head” that they thought was a tire iron, the man told police. He got into his vehicle and began backing up—planning to hit Damrow if he continued forward.
The man said Damrow was yelling, “Jamie!” and telling him to get out of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, the wife had fled the garage, according to the court documents. She initially pounded on a neighbor’s door, but there was no answer. She then went to another neighbor, who called 911.
“I thought the guy was going crazy and he was going to smash the window and kill my husband,” the court documents quoted the woman.
After officers detained him, Damrow told them he is a bounty hunter looking for a fugitive wanted for providing false information to police, a gross misdemeanor. He said he learned through an Internet search that the fugitive might be living at the victim’s house.
Damrow—who said he had training in “Pressure Point Control Technique,” use of a Taser and advanced tactical firearms procedures—then conducted surveillance of the home the evening of June 28 and the early morning of June 29. He thought the victim fit the fugitive’s description. Although the hair color was different, he reasoned that the fugitive could’ve changed his hair color.
Damrow admitted running after the victim and said he extended the baton when the man got into the vehicle. But he added that when he went to the driver’s side window, he noticed the victim had a different name embroidered on his shirt. The victim threatened to call police, and Damrow went back to his vehicle to get paperwork, which is when police arrived, he said.
“When asked why he did not call the police first if he was doing surveillance and taking enforcement action, he claimed the situation happened quickly and noted that if the police arrest the fugitive he does not get paid. He acknowledged that makes him take more risks,” the complaint states.
Police initially had trouble verifying Damrow was working as a bounty hunter, according to the charging documents. He said he worked for “Dave’s Bail Bonds,” which they later determined was a man named “Dave” at Ace Bail Bonds.
Dave, whose last name wasn’t provided, confirmed that Damrow was trying to locate two “bail jumpers”—including one named Jamison “Jamie” McElhaney whose charges matched what Damrow told police.
Officers released Damrow pending charges. He’s been charged with second-degree assault, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years and a $4,200 to $14,000 fine.
Source:hopkinspatch
Oklahoma City bounty hunters busting down wrong door were wanted fugitives www.privateofficer.com
TULSA, Oklahoma May 17 2012 – Two bounty hunters bust their way through an elderly woman’s home in Tulsa looking for a fugitive.
They soon found out they were at the wrong house.
Police said two of the three bounty hunters had warrants for their own arrests.
Now, professional bounty hunters are calling for regulation.
Oklahoma law only requires bounty men to be 18 years old.
There is no gun or weapons instruction or even training on how to arrest the fugitives they are hunting.
Bounty Hunter David Dunn has been a licensed private investigator for 16 years.
Even though it’s not required, he has taken the initiative to get various certifications and training, which he said rouge hunters lack.
“They’re not licensed private investigators, they’re not licensed bondsmen, they’re not licensed anything. They simply buy a badge, a t-shirt and find a bondsman who will give them a file. From there, they go to work without knowing anything about what they are doing,” Dunn said.
Dunn said the weapons they use including, firearms, tasers, pepper spray, among others, can be deadly when used in unskilled hands.
Police said Ronnie Shaw and Cecil Deere, two of the three men who stormed through the elderly woman’s home, actually had warrants for their arrests.
Senator Ralph Shortey (R) has tried to pass Senate Bill 1872 calling for regulation of the industry for the past two legislative sessions; it failed each time.
Criminal defense attorney David Slane said, “No little old lady should be disturbed while home alone by three guys waiving guns and kicking in her front door.”
Another group of bounty hunters in Midwest City was accused of doing the same thing and holding an entire family hostage.
News Channel 4 obtained a list of almost a dozen working bounty hunters in Oklahoma who are targeting fugitives while they have criminal pasts themselves.
“We have to pass a test to drive a car. It’s just unimaginable that we allow people to kick in doors, arrest others and they don’t have to have any training or experience,” Slane said.
While there are many cases of cowboy bounty hunters who make huge mistakes, the Oklahoma Bondsman Association said legitimate bounty men save tax payers millions each year.
Bounty huunter charged with kidnapping in Colorado www.privateofficer.com
LOVELAND, Colo. April 26 2012 - A bounty hunter from Michigan is facing kidnapping charges after he was accused of picking up a 29-year-old man who was wanted on a misdemeanor traffic warrant and demanding money and drugs for his release.
Chad Farquhar, a 38-year-old from Jackson, was jailed on $175,000 bond after Loveland police arrested the 38-year-old Saturday night. He is accused of kidnapping Jason Olson, also of Michigan. Olson’s hometown was not available.
Farquhar is a bail enforcement agent with Quick Bail Bonds in Jackson, Mich. The firm’s owner, Charles Davis, denies the allegations and has an attorney working with Farquhar to navigate the judicial process, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported.
Davis said Farquhar and another agent were on their way to Wyoming to apprehend a fugitive, when they decided to drive through Colorado to pick up Olson.
The two bounty hunters contacted Olson at a Loveland home. Police say the victim’s family later contacted them, saying Farquhar demanded money and drugs in exchange for Olson’s return.
Investigators say Farquhar’s family worked with Loveland police to set up a meeting that he voluntarily attended. Authorities arrested him there on the suspected charges.
Police released the other bounty hunter without charges. Olson wasn’t taken into custody because his misdemeanor traffic warrant is not extraditable.
Farquhar is scheduled to appear later this week in a Colorado courtroom.
Source: WWJ/AP
NC bail bonsmen shoot at wrong person www.privateofficer.com
COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC April 25 2012 - A man living outside of Tabor City says back on April 16th, he came close to being gunned down.
According to Michael Thompson, two men in a white Dodge Charger fired several shots at him while he was on his private property.
Thompson says the men kept mistakenly calling him Kingston Green, and were preparing to force him on the ground. When Thompson showed the men his ID, and they realized he was not the man they were searching for, they left.
Following the incident, Thompson called the sheriff’s office and reported the men.
According to a sheriff’s office incident report, the county’s communications center located a call where a man name Chris Cherry, a bail bondsman from South Carolina said he would be going to the property looking for Kingston Green.
Thompson still has shell casings he says are from the incident, adding that three years ago, Kingston Green lived on the property where he’s currently living.
Thompson plans to hire an attorney and press charges against whoever fired the shots.
According to deputies, Monday Christopher Cherry 34 and San Baldwin 43 of West Columbia, SC turned themselves at the Columbus County sheriff’s office.
The men are facing misdemeanor charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Source:WECT
NJ bounty hunter admits covering up bribes www.privateofficer.com
Trevor Williams pleaded guilty Friday to fabricating physical evidence and hindering apprehension. He faces a year in jail.
The 39-year-old Jersey City resident admitted attempting to covering up $92,000 in bribes to an insurance executive.
The state Attorney General’s Office alleges Williams’ employer, bounty hunter Adel Mikhaeil of Jersey City, paid sheriff’s officers to sign false documents showing the fugitives were at large when they were caught when they actually were in the custody of law enforcement.
Bounty hunters get a higher fee for catching fugitives who are at large, which also saves money for the insurance company that insured the bail bonds.
TN bounty hunter sent to prison for botched arrest attempt www.privateofficer.com
Marvin Lee Keeling, 42, of 167 Honaker Drive, Bristol, was given an effective five-year sentence on kidnapping and two counts each of aggravated burglary and assault Tuesday in Sullivan County Criminal Court. Then the judge suspended all but one year in favor of putting him on supervised probation for the remaining four years. He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine the jury had recommended at trial.
During the hearing, Judge Robert Montgomery outlined several enhancing factors weighing into his decision to order split confinement.
Montgomery said he gave a “great deal of weight” to the fact that Keeling, by his own admission, was a “leader” in the commission of the offenses against the victim.
He noted Keeling’s own testimony that he was “in charge,” that it was he who had made the arrangements with Bad Boyz Bonding Co., and that it was his decision to return to the victim’s home on the second night. During that time, co-defendants and fellow bounty hunters Anthony Story Jr. and Clyde Collins were working under his direction.
During Keeling and Story’s trial, prosecutors argued the $20,000 reward Bad Boyz Bonding owner Harold Head had offered for Benjamin Scott Blevins’ capture motivated the trio to willfully ignore any proof that Ryan Shealy, 31, was not the man they sought.
Prosecutors pointed out that on May 23, 2010, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office deputies told the men to leave Shealy’s residence because they did not have enough evidence that he was Blevins. Then on May 24, 2010, the men returned and ultimately handcuffed Shealy, put him in the back of a Geo Metro, and drove him to the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department, even though deputies there had failed to reach a consensus that photos of Shealy and Blevins were of the same man, and one officer had warned Keeling that he could be charged if he had the wrong man.
Montgomery noted his agreement that it appeared the money had motivated Keeling to ignore any evidence that the “person that he was kidnapping was not the person he was looking for.”
“I don’t find this is a mistake. I find that he just basically was ignoring any evidence to the contrary. That’s why I find it was intentional or knowing,” Montgomery said.
He also found that the “risk to human life was high” as a result of Keeling’s actions. He explained he found this enhancing factor because the law grants residents the right to use deadly force against an intruder, and the “risk” could also apply to the defendants’ lives.
Montgomery further opined that Keeling allowed Shealy to be “treated with exceptional cruelty,” crediting the victim’s testimony that the bounty hunters had entered his home uninvited on two occasions, then hauled him away in handcuffs. While en route to the Hawkins County jail the car was stopped and the lights shut off “maybe twice,” and the victim was forced to sit in darkness with three strangers, he noted.
“The victim didn’t know what was going to happen to him, didn’t know where he was going to end up. He was on the side of the road with the lights out in the car, not knowing what’s going to happen to him,” said Montgomery.
“I find that was just extremely cruel,” he said.
Montgomery told Keeling, “In my opinion you have not demonstrated to me that full probation is the answer, and frankly I’m very close to ordering you to serve the full sentence. But I’m not going to do that because of your age and the fact you’ve generally lived an OK life.”
Conditions of Keeling’s probation include that he maintain full-time employment, perform 200 hours of community service, and have no contact with his co-defendants or the victim. He is also prohibited from being in the victim’s neighborhood.
Montgomery also prohibited Keeling from working for any bonding business in any capacity, including bookkeeping or accepting payments.
Keeling will be on bond supervision pending an appeal. A May 24 hearing date for a motion for new trial is scheduled.
Story, 41, of 226 Basham Hill Road, Bristol, was granted supervised probation in February in lieu of a four-year prison sentence and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine on convictions of kidnapping, facilitation of aggravated burglary with intent to commit a felony, and facilitation of aggravated burglary with intent to commit aggravated assault.
Collins, 23, of 511 Queen St., Bristol, Tenn., was denied probation and sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping, destruction of and tampering with government records, and two counts each of burglary and assault in December 2011.
Montgomery found Collins’ history of violent behavior — including three prior domestic assaults on the same victim — coupled with the fact he was on probation when the kidnapping happened and had admitted smoking marijuana while on bond, made him an inappropriate candidate for probation or alternative sentencing.
“Big Easy Justice” -bounter hunter reality show launches in April
NEW ORLEANS LA March 21 2012 — A bounty hunter who tracks New Orleans criminals will be the subject of a new reality TV show being launched next month by Spike TV.
“Big Easy Justice” will center on the gritty criminal underworld of New Orleans and a bounty hunter known as Tat-2, who hunts down some of the city’s most elusive criminals.
Tat-2, whose real name is Gene Thacker, is a military veteran and former deputy with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. According to a news release, Thacker’s 12-year bounty hunting career has helped put away thousands of criminals charged with armed robbery, drug possession, domestic abuse and murder.
“Big Easy Justice” premieres April 10 at 9 p.m. CDT.
Bounty hunter shot in Wichita Kansas www.privateofficer.com
Wichita KS Jan 27 2012 Police were called to the 3400 block of east Munger lane around 8:00 Wednesday night for a report of someone being shot.
Police say several bounty hunters were in the area looking for a wnated fugitive, southeast of Pawnee and Hillside.
Police said that one of the men was shot by an unknown person.
The 29-year-old man was taken to Via Christi St. Joe, and then transferred to St. Francis in critical condition.
Police have no suspects in the case. They say whomever shot the victim may be armed.
Armed bounty hunter arrested on USA campus www.privateofficer.com
MOBILE, Ala. Jan 7 2012- A slogan on South Alabama’s campus is “If you see something, say something.” And that’s what police said led to bounty hunter, Carlos Black’s arrest.
Police said when Black was walking into the police station to ask about a warrant, he passed an officer.
“He ( the officer) turned around and looked back at Black and noticed a bulge underneath his jacket on the right side,” said Deputy Chief W.D Christian, University of South Alabama. “Being a trained observer, it was consistent with that of a firearm.”
USA Police said the officer followed his instincts, and Black, inside the building.
That’s when police said Black made a move that wouldn’t go unnoticed.
When he went to pick up a pen he dropped, the officer got a good look at the pistol and asked for a permit.
“After Black said yes the officer and supervisor checked the records and found out the permit was not valid, not current. That’s when Black was taken into custody,” Christian said.
Best Bonding Company confirmed Black is a bounty hunter with the company. The representative wasn’t sure why he had an invalid permit.
Since 2001, Black has racked up about 30 criminal charges, including impersonating a police officer and domestic violence.
Some students said they are glad officers are going with their instincts.
“I think it’s good that they checked. It makes me feel safer that they are actually doing their jobs,” said USA student Emily Reeves.
Source:FOX10
Alabama bail bonds employee arrested for drug trafficking www.privateofficer.com
Tuscaloosa police spokesman Officer Brent Blankley said 28-year-old Rose Mary Talton was the subject of a two-month investigation.
Blankley said Talton was arrested Monday and has been released on $100,000 bail.
Agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force said Talton was a contact for a group bringing pills into Tuscaloosa County.
Blankley said agents are continuing the investigation and other arrests could be made.
Police shoot-kill man attacking bounty hunters www.privateofficer.com
The 29-year-old Cleveland man, who police did not identify, was taken to Huron Hospital and pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m.
The officer who shot him, 24-year-old Aaron Petitt, was treated for what police described as a stab wound and released from MetroHealth Medical Center.
Police policy requires that the officer, with the department for two years, be placed on temporary leave while the shooting is investigated.
The shooting happened about 4:15 p.m. in the 12800 block of Signet Avenue.
Police got a call about a man being chased by men with guns, said Sgt. Keith Campbell, a police spokesman.
At least three officers, including Petitt, arrived and found that the armed men were bounty hunters trying to capture a man wanted on a warrant.
The man had entered a home and barricaded himself in a room. Petitt and a bounty hunter tried to use a board to force open the door.
Police said the man forced the board out from between the door and the jam. The board hit Petitt, who also was stabbed in the foot, police said.
Two other officers also were injured during the struggle, Campbell said.
The officers were taken to MetroHealth, too. Their names and conditions were not available. But Campbell said their injuries were not life-threatening.
The department’s Use of Non-Deadly Force Investigation Team is reviewing the shooting. The team includes the officers in charge of the homicide and internal affairs units along with at least one investigator working for the Cuyahoga County coroner.
Their findings will be presented to City Prosecutor Victor Perez. City policy gives Perez 90 days to decide whether the officer’s actions were justified.
Bounty hunters arrested for robbery www.privateofficer.com
Bounty hunters arrested for robbery http://www.privateofficer.com
Pearl River County sheriff’s investigator Donnie Saucier said Harris filed an armed robbery complaint on Dec. 17 against A-1 Outlaw Bonding agency and two employees, Elisha Shere Bourgeois and Kenneth Dominick Maynard.
Saucier said the incident occurred in June. Saucier said Harris claims Bourgeois, Maynard and two other people chased him down, took him into custody at gunpoint and took money from him.
Carol Pearson, owner-operator of A-1 Outlaw Bonding, said Harris, of Carriere, was wanted on a bench warrant. Pearson said a receipt for the $50 was given to Harris’ mother at her request. Pearson said bounty fees are usually $250.
Saucier said the fact there was a receipt does not make the action legal.
“Any time money or goods are taken from a person by force and against their will, it’s robbery,” Saucier said. “If people want to leave receipts for their robberies, then that fine with us.”
Saucier said Bourgeois is a bonding agent with A-1 Outlaw Bonding while Maynard is paid by the company for assisting in locating subjects.
Saucier said the other people involved in the alleged incident are being investigated.
No court date has been set in the case.
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Man claims “Dog The Bounty Hunter” owes him millions www.privateofficer.com
Man claims “Dog The Bounty Hunter” owes him millions http://www.privateofficer.com
Boris Krutonog of Los Angeles says the A&E Television Networks and others failed to pay him for the fourth season of the show as its creator and co-executive producer. Filming for the fifth season recently began.
The Honolulu-based show’s producers also have failed to give Krutonog accountings of money earned from home video, TV syndication and other sources, according to his papers filed this week in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.
Krutonog also complains in court papers that he was the target of “abusive, violent and outrageous conduct” and “episodes of psychotic behavior by” the show’s stars, Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife Beth.
Krutonog says A&E, television producer David Houts and his companies, Hybrid Films Inc. and D&D Television Productions Inc., breached their contract with him. He seeks compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages.
On Wednesday, Houts referred questions about Krutonog’s claims to A&E. The networks’ spokesman, Dan Silberman, said he could not comment on pending litigation.
Krutonog, a Russian-born actor who had roles in “Air Force One,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “The Italian Job,” says in court papers that he introduced himself to “Dog” Chapman in 1995.
Believing that Chapman’s colorful life and exploits could be the basis of a movie or a TV show, Krutonog signed contracts with Chapman and received the exclusive right to develop the program, court papers say.
Chapman’s adventures included a raid into Mexico in 2003 to capture serial rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster. Chapman and his crew had faced criminal charges there because of the abduction but a Mexican judicial panel dismissed the case.
Between 1995 and 2003, Krutonog developed what became “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” court papers say. They say that to get his consent to produce and air the show, A&E agreed to pay him as co-executive producer “for the life of the program.”
The show was pulled off the air in November after Chapman was heard in a taped telephone conversation using a racial slur to refer to his son’s girlfriend, who is black. Last week, Chapman and A&E executives announced the return of the show with Chapman saying he was “ashamed” of his racial remarks.
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