Lightning Strikes Twice

In 2005, while serving as the Chairman of the Education Committee for TAPBA, I held a seminar that featured the 3S and me. After the seminar in Nashville, TN, I planned to meet with an indemnitor who had agreed to help me locate a skip he had signed for three months earlier. Scot M and Scott H had ridden down to Nashville with me from Knoxville and were happy to accompany me to pick up this skip. After meeting with the indemnitor, and a little bit of drama, the skip was successfully arrested an transported to Knoxville, TN and another great WAR Story was born.

That could never happen again, right? WRONG!! While sitting around my kitchen table signing attendance certificates, I get a call from another indemnitor( You gotta love those indemnitors) telling me that a skip for whom I had been looking for about six months had just come back into town from Florida and was staying the night at his Mom's house, but would be leaving the next day.

All conversation at the table stopped as each person there had been involved in similar phone conversations in their careers and understood the urgency of the situation. Not wanting to impose on my friends, I offered to take them back to the hotel before going after my guy and they were all instantly opposed. After working all day at the seminar, and signing certificates for a couple of hours it was getting late, but every one of them was anxious to go with me.

We drove to the office to get the file and on the way to the skip's address, I gave the guys a briefing of the layout of the buildings and the indemnitor's opinion of where the skip would be. We drove past the place where each of the guys were able to get a quick size up of the set up, then we turned around and went back. When we pulled up to the site, there were lights on in the garage where the skip had been working earlier in the day, so I took that building. A fifth wheel mobile home was permanently set up on the site that also had lights on and Scot O and M took that. A mobile home was also on the site but it was dark and Scott H took that one.

After clearing the garage and securing the fifth wheel our skip comes walking out of the dark trailor where Scott H quickly takes him into custody for a fast trip to county lock-up. That was the highlight of the weekend.

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Joe Stiles
Bail Fast Bonding/
Black Aces Bail Recovery
Knoxville, TN
800-689-5031

That is excellent, Joe.

Ironically, I am so careful and honest in the bonds that I write that I have defendants turn themselves in for me to rebond them, where I later (or never) get the required forfeiture notices from the court.

I have paid two forfeitures in 3+ years. One I got a call on, apprehended and got my forfeiture back in less than a week. The other I have the collateral on, just need to collect it. It is out of state, so just a matter of having the time.

It helps to be in a small area, but even so, I trust my defendants, and they trust me. I know that this makes a big difference when it comes to whether a person runs or not. I make it clear that if they work with me, I will work with them. If they run, they are screwed. Plain and simple, they would rather face their charges than what I will do to them. With the court they have a chance to defend themselves. With me, their only chance was to appear in court. We have had to pretext and lie while working as a BEA for other bondsmen, and originally that somewhat hurt my reputation as a bondsman. But, once everyone learned how I work, I get the calls, and I don't get the skips.

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

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Good job guys!

Kathy, Im not that lucky. I got 17 on the board right now. But with agents scattered all over the mid state, how could it go that smooth? We have talked about that by email.

We are in a risky area, relatively speaking, anyhow. I live within 10 miles of the Lake of the Ozarks, one of the biggest tourist areas in the midwest. We get alot of transiants. We have an office just outside Ft Leonard Wood and of course there are alot of transiants there. And we have a couple more offices up and down I44. There are alot of drug busts from mules hauling dope, so that leads to large out of state bonds.

We got alot of local business, but we got alot of risky business as well.

BTW, I love the squeak of those trailer house doors. lol Gets my blood pumping as I hear footsteps slippin down the hallway toward the back door and hear that old trailer door squeak. I love catchin backdoor jackrabbits.

lol..Joe left out the best part.....y'all have to ask him about that by e-mail..it's hilarious..!

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601