BEA's in HOT WATER

HOLYOKE - Three area men were charged with illegally detaining private citizens here and impersonating law enforcement officers and were being held last night on $50,000 bail each.

Police Chief Anthony R. Scott said last night the three had violated citizens' rights here, in Springfield and in surrounding communities.

The investigation here began after midnight Wednesday morning when, Scott said, a man whose car was stopped by the suspects on Interstate 91 was allegedly rousted by at least two employees of the West Springfield-based U.S. Fugitive Taskforce.

The man told police the black-clad men, who said they were bounty hunters, showed him badges and went through his wallet. Scott said the man said he followed the suspects into the city before going to police.

Scott said city detectives launched a full-fledged investigation that resulted in three arrests in Springfield on Friday.

Arrested were: Matthew Hebert, 20, of 659 Prospect St., Chicopee, Matthew Drost, 22, of 40 Munsing Ave., Ludlow, and Christopher Bryden, 20, of 96 Hastings St., Springfield, according to police.

All three were charged with impersonating a police officer, malicious destruction of property over $250, civil rights violations, kidnapping and assault and battery, police said.

All three were being held here last night on $50,000 bail, pending their arraignment in Holyoke District Court today.

According to Police Lt. Denise M. Duguay, police reports show Hebert and Drost were arrested by Holyoke and Massachusetts State Police about 2 p.m. Friday at 55 State St., Springfield, while Bryden was arrested at Liberty and Libcar streets in Springfield.

Scott said he and Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett will hold a press conference today about the matter.

Several days before the Wednesday incident, Scott said, he called the president of the company to complain that firm employees were "stopping people down in the Flats." He said he did not remember the name of the person he talked to.

On the U.S. Fugitive Taskforce's local Web site, Drost is listed as the chief agent and Hebert as an agent. A contact person listed on the Web site could not be reached.

Please keep us inform of this of this matter. we all would like to know what happens to them. These are prime examples of people who ruin for everyone eles.



Steve Faircloth
Faircloth's Fugitive Recovery agenies
OHIO-MICHGAN
NSIN# SF0105
(586) 822-4706 Office

What bondsman in his or her right mind would hire a 22 year old "chief agent" with a team consisting of a couple of 20 year olds?

_________________
Kevin E. Rose
Indiana Recovery License #243
Richmond, IN
(765) 977-3984

We have children trying to be adults and not knowing how--this is going to grow big time in mass--we expect alot of fall out from this

I'VE STAYED AWAY FROM THE FORUM FOR REASONS MOST PROS CAN IDENTIFY WITH 'BUT' I JUST HAD TO POST THIS STORY...

3 'bounty hunters' arraigned
Wednesday, February 22, 2006

HOLYOKE - Three men arrested on charges that they conducted an illegal shake-down on Interstate 91 here last week were ordered held on $50,000 bail each yesterday in Holyoke District Court.

The case has mushroomed into a bizarre, multijurisdictional probe after reports that the trio - masquerading as legitimate bounty hunters - have been rousting drug dealers and homosexuals here and in Springfield for several weeks or more.

At a press conference yesterday, Police Chief Anthony R. Scott, Springfield Police Capt. William Noonan and Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett said they and federal authorities are investigating other possible illegal activities by the three men.

They said the men, who told victims they were seeking suspects named in arrest warrants, had laminated badges showing they worked for a West Springfield bounty-hunting firm.

That company, United Surety Fugitives Task Force, is run by West Springfield City Councilor Angus M. Rushlow. Rushlow said yesterday he did employ one suspect as a freelancer, but did not authorize any illegal activity.

The three suspects, arrested by Massachusetts State Police in Springfield on Friday, are: Matthew Hebert, 20, of 659 Prospect St., Chicopee; Matthew Drost, 22, of 40 Munsing Ave., Ludlow; and Christopher Bryden, 20, of 96 Hastings St., Springfield.

All three were charged with impersonating a police officer, armed robbery, kidnapping, civil rights violations, assault and battery and malicious destruction of property over $250.

In court, the defendants entered innocent pleas in absentia, waiving their right to appear because, defense lawyers said, their photographs would prejudice the case. Shawn P. Allyn and the other defense lawyers said the evidence was trumped up and that their clients were innocent.

Police said a 37-year-old Northampton resident reported that he was accosted by three armed men and a woman early Wednesday morning at an Interstate 91 rest area. He said the suspects stole more than $200 in cash from his wallet.

The Northampton man, police said, followed the suspects' vehicle from the rest stop into downtown Holyoke, where they stopped and threw an object at his car. He then reported the incident to police, and gave them the license number.

Holyoke detectives traced the plate to a sports utility vehicle owned by another city man, who said he loaned it that night to two of the suspects, police said.

Holyoke District Court Judge Kenneth J. Cote Jr. ordered Hebert, Drost and Bryden held on $50,000 bail each, half the amount requested by Assistant Hampden County District Attorney Joan Dietz.

According to police, Hebert and Bryden are dancers at the Club Xstatic in downtown Springfield, which caters to gay and lesbian patrons. Allyn, who represents Hebert, said his client is a nude dancer at the club.

Dietz said Bryden told investigators that the trio was engaged in regular "street-sweeping," or cruising the streets of Springfield and Holyoke searching for drug dealers and homosexuals to rob. The three dressed in unmarked black uniforms and were armed with phony badges, realistic-looking BB guns and other paraphernalia, Dietz said.

During yesterday's press conference, officials said three investigations into shakedowns by men posing as police officers, two in Springfield and one here, had begun before Wednesday's incident on Interstate 91.

Rushlow, a longtime bounty hunter, said he hired Drost as a freelance investigator several weeks ago to work on one case, but never paid him. He said Drost employed Hebert and Bryden without his knowledge and acted without his knowledge.

Rushlow said he believes Drost and another former freelancer created a phony Internet Web site using the name of Rushlow's firm, listing themselves and other "agents."

Although he originally thought Drost had potential as a bounty hunter, Rushlow said, he told Drost on Thursday he was dropped.

At their press conference, Bennett and Scott displayed phony identification cards, handcuffs, black uniforms, BB guns, walkie-talkies and other gear seized by police during the investigation.

They said the illegal activity placed police at risk because street drug dealers thought police were stealing from them. They urged other victims to call police, no matter what the circumstances.

_________________
Lance Allen Wilkinson
Recoveries by L.A.W.
Serving since 1984
“What is sought is found... what is overlooked escapes” (Oedipus Rex)

UNREAL!!!!!!!!

_________________
Chuck

This is why I'm not to quick to judge a story.

_________________
Michigan licensed Bail Agent

Great Look out here comes more headaches for the rest of us down the line.

_________________
Andy Dickey
A Way Out Bail Bonds Agency/Tri-State Intel

And again

_________________
Robert Graff
Pro-Tec Recovery Agency
(402)208-0044
Omaha, Nebraska.

Hey Lance,

You might want to check out their website. They claim to have done a year training at the Amherst School of Bail Bond Investigation.

http://www.geocities.com/fugitive_recov ... _bios.html

Granted it's not exactly the same name, and doesn't say where it is, but....

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club