Reading police arrest two bounty hunters

Investigators say the pair handcuffed a city woman and questioned her about her fugitive ex-boyfriend.

By Jason A. Kahl
Reading Eagle


Two bounty hunters were arrested Tuesday after they burst into a city woman’s home, handcuffed her and took her to their office for questioning because they could not find her fugitive ex-boyfriend, city police said.

Ramon Mercado Jr., 40, of the 400 block of North Fifth Street, and Lester L. Kissinger Jr., 22, of the 3800 block of North Alabama Avenue, Muhlenberg Township, were charged with burglary, trespassing, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, harassment and conspiracy.

Police said Mercado and Kissinger pushed their way into Beth Sadler’s home in the 600 block of Birch Street about 3:40 p.m. and handcuffed her.

The bounty hunters put her in a sport utility vehicle and drove her to their bail bond office, DW Inc., 841 Washington St., and questioned her about Calvin Stevens, whose age and address were unavailable, police said.

“There’s no reason for her to be handcuffed and taken from her home,” said Sgt. Guy Lehman of the Reading police department criminal investigations division. “That’s a violation of her civil rights.”

Police said Sadler was out on bail in an unrelated case and the bounty hunters eventually released her to agents from ABC Bail Bonds Inc., 10 N. Sixth St., which had written her bond.

Police said there were no warrants for Sadler’s arrest and she was not in violation of her bail bond.

Court documents indicate Stevens was out on a $100,000 bail bond issued by DW Inc. when he failed to appear in court for a drug case. The bounty hunters were trying to find him so that the bail bond company would not forfeit the money.

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Don Herbert
Surety Administrators, Inc.
645 Penn St. 4th Floor
Reading, PA. 19601
610-372-8811 xt 262

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

morons.....

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

Falls into the category of things we'd like to do, but aren't stupid enough to follow through with.

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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

Sad that it takes incidents like these to highlight the need for licensing....

Arrests of Berks County bounty hunters sparks call for new rules
State Sen. Michael A. O’Pake and state Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone say they have tried for eight years to have legislation passed that would require such agents to be trained and licensed.

By Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle


Reading, PA - Two Reading lawmakers said Wednesday that the arrests of two bounty hunters a day earlier should fuel efforts to regulate agents for bail bondsmen.

“This is one more clear example of the need for licensing and regulation of bounty hunters,” state Sen. Michael A. O’Pake said. “I’m sure people would be shocked to hear there is no licensing and regulation of bounty hunters, who go around forcing their way into private homes and illegally handcuffing them (residents) and hauling them away.”

Bounty hunters Ramon Mercado Jr., 40, and Lester L. Kissinger Jr., 22, were arrested Tuesday on burglary and related charges.

According to city police, they were hunting for Beth Sadler’s ex-boyfriend when they pushed their way into her home in the 600 block of Birch Street and handcuffed her.

The bounty hunters put Sadler in a vehicle, drove her to their bail office, DW Inc., 841 Washington St., and questioned her about the ex-boyfriend, Calvin Stevens, whose age and address were unavailable, police said.

Court documents indicate Stevens skipped a court appearance while free on a $100,000 bail bond issued by DW Inc. after he was arrested on drug charges.

Mercado of the 400 block of North Fifth Street, was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Kissinger of the 3800 block of North Alabama Avenue, Muhlenberg Township, was released pending court action.

O’Pake and state Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone, both Democrats, said they have co-sponsored legislation for the past eight years that would require bounty hunters to be trained and licensed to work in Pennsylvania.

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Don Herbert
Surety Administrators, Inc.
645 Penn St. 4th Floor
Reading, PA. 19601
610-372-8811 xt 262

Don
I am for licensing everybody with the same consistent training curriculum.
I would like to see one uniformly accepted credential after receiving this training.
I would like to see FBI level back ground checks on everyone in this industry, to include bondsmen as well as investigators.
I would like to see a uniformly accepted moniker for all of us, such as Surety Investigator to remove us a greater distance from the bounty hunter stigma.
Once obtaining this level of cooperation and certification, maybe we could raise our level of perception with law enforcement, thus increasing the level of cooperation to achieve the common goal of locking these skips up.

Scott

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R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

EXACTLY what my scott says

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

When I started in this buisness 3 years ago I started out with "DW Inc". After working with him for a case I realized that I would rather not be in the buisness at all then work for a company like them. I know I am new to the buisness and VERY young. But it did not take someone who has been in the buisness for a long time to realize the way they handled things were wrong. The things I seen and heard from them really turned me away. I now work specifically for a bondsman in York, Pa who has been in the buisness for 35+ years and occasionally others. I am not suprised to see this at all.

This type of incident does not bode well for bounty hunters or the industry in the eyes of the public. In this case the bounty hunters appear to be criminals themselves. I think the industry should be regulated in the way Scott proposed.

I am from a state that does not require any training or certification at all. I also believe it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some sort of training and certification. As far as a background check goes don't we all get those for our concealed carry permits? Also I wish people would just use a little more common sense, kidnapping isn't going to get you anything but free room and board! LOL... Myself, I've read a few books on bail enforcement and read this forum to help myself stay out of trouble.

Jacob