Would-be bounty hunters nab innocent woman in Bristol
Here is a link to a video:
http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/loca ... tol/34641/>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Story from the Bristol paper:
Please note the secondary story, in the print about "Abington Bail Bonds"; the bondsman and his son, a former magistrate.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
BRISTOL, Va. – A woman accused of skipping bond was handcuffed, sexually assaulted during a strip search and hauled off to jail Oct. 9. But the three who arrested her were only masquerading as drug task force agents.
On top of that, police said, the fake agents nabbed the wrong woman and passed her to a bail bondsman in the hopes of receiving a reward.
The bondsman then took the woman to the Bristol Virginia Jail, where she was immediately freed because jailers quickly discerned her true identity.
“She clearly had identification to clearly show she wasn’t the person in question,” Bristol Police Detective Sgt. Steven Crawford said Thursday.
Charges of abduction, robbery, impersonating a law enforcement officer, conspiracy and sexual battery were filed against the two men and a woman who staged the false arrest, Crawford said.
Officers arrested Donna Fitzwater, of Bristol, Tenn., and Dwayne Peters, of Greeneville, Tenn., on Thursday. They continue to search for Stacy Herndon, of Lebanon, Va.
A fourth person – Doug Roller, of Bristol, Va. – is being charged as an accessory, Crawford said, based on accusations that Roller lured the woman to Mumpower Park in Bristol, Va., so the trio could corral her.
“They ran out with badges in their hands and they’re screaming ... drug task force,” Crawford said.
The detective said the trio hoped to receive a reward from bail bondsman J.C. Mullins, of Abingdon Bail Bonds, after he had distributed a photo of a woman he’d bonded out of jail and who had skipped a court appearance.
Contacted late Thursday, Mullins said: “I’m not ready to talk about it right now.”
Mullins was the subject of several recent Bristol Herald Courier stories that detailed how his son, a former magistrate named John C. “Tiny” Mullins III, falsified bail bond documents to hide questionable dealings between the two.
The father is now under investigation by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, which licenses bail bondsmen and women.
The son, Tiny Mullins, was fired from the magistrate’s office and is under investigation by a special prosecutor.
Crawford said Fitzwater, Herndon and Peters set out to find the girl shown in the picture.
“This girl [who was abducted], to me, they don’t even look alike,” Crawford said.
The woman and her friend were pulled from their car and handcuffed in the park. Several hundred dollars were confiscated from the woman, who then was subjected to a full-body cavity search for hidden drugs.
Police said the friend who was let go, also a woman, has not complained of being sexually assaulted.
mowens@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2549
and the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
By AP
Published: October 23, 2009
BRISTOL — Three would-be bounty hunters face charges after they impersonated drug task force agents and nabbed the wrong woman, police said.
The innocent woman was mistaken for a suspect who had skipped bond. Bristol police say three people who hoped to collect a reward from a bail bondsman handcuffed the woman and sexually assaulted her during a strip search Oct. 9.
Sgt. Steven Crawford says the three face charges of abduction, robbery, impersonating a law enforcement officer, conspiracy and sexual battery.
Two of the suspects have been arrested, and police are searching for the third. A fourth person has been charged as an accessory.
The innocent woman caught by the suspects was taken to a lockup but let go when jailers quickly realized she wasn’t the person wanted for skipping bond.
