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 Post subject: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 11:29 
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Bail bondsmen crossed line, Wildomar mayor, Sheriff's Department allege

10:25 PM PDT on Wednesday, March 30, 2011

By SARAH BURGE and JOHN F. HILL
The Press-Enterprise


Two bail bondsmen could face criminal charges after Wildomar Mayor Marsha Swanson says they barged into her family's home Monday night, broke her grandson's nose and Tased her daughter.

Sheriff's officials say Fausto Atilano, 48, and Bryan Stark, 46, of Fausto's Bail Bonds in French Valley, went to the Wildomar home searching for a woman Swanson said is dating her grandson. The bondsmen had no legal authority to enter the property, sheriff's officials said.

Atilano says they had a right to be there and insists he was the one assaulted.

"I was jumped and attacked by at least four people who were also at the residence, and a pit bull," Atilano said in a written statement.

Swanson said her family didn't provoke them.

"They Tasered (my daughter) ... in the stomach," Swanson said. "No one was resisting, no one was doing anything."

Lt. Mathieu Burden said sheriff's officials are seeking battery and trespassing charges against Atilano and Stark. The Riverside County district attorney's office was reviewing the case Wednesday, but neither man has been arrested.

According to court records and Burden, the woman the agents were pursuing, 23-year-old Erica Lynch, had been arrested in February on suspicion of receiving stolen property and released on $5,000 bond. She was not wanted by authorities and had missed no court dates, Burden said, but the bail bonds company revoked her bond.

LEGAL RIGHT

Because Lynch doesn't live at the home and was not a fugitive, the bail bondsmen did not have the legal right to enter the property, Burden said. Likewise, the agents failed to notify the sheriff's department that they planned to apprehend someone, as the law requires, Burden said.

Believing Lynch to be at the Shoemaker Drive home, Burden said, Atilano jumped a fence into the backyard and Stark knocked on the front door.

A fight broke out, during which a woman was pepper sprayed and shocked with a Taser and a man was "punched around," Burden said.

Atilano says he, too, was injured, Burden said.

The bail bondsmen and residents called authorities about 7 p.m.

Lynch was in the home at the time and Swanson said she was taken away by the bail bondsmen. Lynch was in jail Wednesday.

According to the mayor, who answered the door, one of the bondsmen implied he was a Riverside County law enforcement officer serving a warrant. He forced his way into the home where her mother, daughter and other family members live, Swanson said.

One man pushed past Swanson, who said she refused to let him in, while the other jumped a six-foot fence and circled to the back of the home, she said.

They smashed her grandson's face into the cement floor, breaking his nose, Swanson said.

'Blood all over'

"There's blood all over," the mayor said.

Swanson did not name her grandson, who is in his 20s.

After Swanson's daughter, 46-year-old Jamie Scranton, yelled at the men, one of them shocked her in the stomach with a Taser, Swanson said. One of the stun gun barbs was removed at a hospital, she said.

On their way out, one of the men pepper sprayed her daughter in the face when she told them they couldn't leave before sheriff's deputies arrived, the mayor said.

Swanson said her family was shaken. Scranton is having nightmares. Swanson's mother, who is 84 and uses an oxygen tank, was home at the time.

On Wednesday morning, Atilano called the encounter "unbelievable," said residents sicked a pit bull on him and suggested that the family got preferential treatment from sheriff's because she is mayor.

Atilano wrote that Lynch had "failed to comply with the terms of her bail bond agreement" and "was determined to be a flight risk for her court appearance."

"This attack included the brandishing of a knife, being charged at with a 2 x 6 piece of lumber, being punched and kicked in the head and body, while I was on the ground," he wrote.

"Fearing for my life," he wrote, "I defended myself and attempted to escape this attack."

Atilano said he sought medical attention for head trauma and a dislocated finger.

Swanson could not be reached later to respond to Atilano's account.

Burden dismissed accusations that sheriff's officials showed favoritism.

"We just do our job," he said.

Burden said investigators had to pursue criminal charges.

Bail bondsmen can't be allowed to "run amok" without regard for the law, he said.

"They think that they have carte blanche because they're in the manhunt mode," Burden said.

"Sometimes when you're in that mode, common sense goes out the window."




Somebody didn't do their homework on this one.

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 11:53 
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hmmmmmm . . . would this be the person that emailed us Phill?

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 12:07 
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Of course this happens as we in CA are trying to reinstate PC 1299 to some what regulate the recovery side of the business.

So, now our state leg will have reasons to be more restrictive in the requirements and procedures we must follow.

I don't know who is telling the truth in this case. It really doesn't matter. The business just got another black eye!


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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 15:07 
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So basically the Bondsman was revoking the bond for this female..

In California where this incident took place.. was the bondsman allowed to enter this address ? Was this address that he entered listed on the defendant's bond application?... Did this Bondsman have 100 % certainty that his defendant was in this house..cause the article states the defendant does not live there..? and if he was sure his defendant was in this house is he permitted to enter with any means necessary ? .. I am only curious as I do not know what California Laws allow .. and wanted to just ask you Californian's.... :mrgreen:

now in Florida if the Defendant's primary address and "Alternate" address(es) for personal references such as other family members or friends are listed on the Deft.'s Bail Bond Application we can enter those listed addresses with any means necessary and search for the defendant.. if it is any other address not listed on the bond application the only way we can enter said address is if we have a 100 % confirmed visual and positive ID of the defendant and in fact the defendant is in a said house or location.

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 16:46 
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Sun setted CA Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act
Penal Code 1299:

1299.09. (a) An individual authorized by Section 1299.02 to
apprehend a bail fugitive shall not forcibly enter a premises except
as provided for in Section 844.
(b) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall be deemed to authorize an
individual authorized by Section 12099.02 to apprehend a bail
fugitive to apprehend, detain, or arrest any person except as
otherwise authorized pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
833) of Title 3 of Part 2, or any other provision of law.

CA Penal Code 844
844. To make an arrest, a private person, if the offense is a
felony, and in all cases a peace officer, may break open the door or
window of the house in which the person to be arrested is, or in
which they have reasonable grounds for believing the person to be,
after having demanded admittance and explained the purpose for which
admittance is desired.

A "pre forfeiture" bail surrender is not a felony. It appears the original underlying charges are misdemeanors based on the bail amount states. So, in my opinion this case is not a felony case to start with.

So, if the defendant listed this address as her "home" address, the agents could go there but, they could not "force" there way in. If in fact that is what they did.


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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 16:59 
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Thank You for the information Tony.. always interesting and good to know what you can and can not do in other States..

Sounds like these two guys are in for a legal ride with the State Attorney bringing charges on them possibly ..

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 19:00 
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The new "1299" contains specific language on entry. One can enter either the defendant's home, or that of a third party, provided they have probable cause to believe the defendant is inside. In other words, as I understand it, you see them go in and not come out....you can enter. You see them through the window...you can enter. Anywhere. Except some commercial places I guess.

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2011 21:31 
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NO thirrd party entry here. If one is seen entering and not leaving . . .either wait if there is no warrant and permission is not given OR , , , IF there is a warrant call the PoPo and not only is the def going to Jail but so will someone else. Before calling in the "Calvary" tho . . . you had better be darn sure . . .

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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sun 03 Apr 2011 08:20 
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Tom, but because of this incident, there is already opposition by some S.O.s . So the new 1299 language may be changed to eliminate 3rd party residences.

AB 379 has to clear several committees first then go to both branches in Sacramento and of course be signed by the gov.

I don't think the third party entry will survive after this.


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 Post subject: Re: Bail bondsmen crossed line...........
 Post Posted: Sun 03 Apr 2011 11:40 
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For the older members of the group, do you remember the incident in MA where a DA called the police and said on 911 tape that she was being held at gun point? One of the BEA's was a guy named Angus, and the other one was from OH, name is not recalled. They apprehended her brother who was wanted out of OH and staying with her. She changed her story several times and she ws in fact harboring a fugitive and if I recall correctly was fully aware of his warrant status. The BEA's were arrested between the apprehension location and the Magistrates, which kept them from complying with MA law regarding Magistration and formal extradition statutes. They did nothing wrong, and were eventually cleared of all charges, but it was costly. Some people here contributed to the legal defense of at least one of the parties ;)

The point is, that just because a person is a politician or holds public servant status, does not mean that they are without culpability.
The best defense is a good offense, and that may be her tach. From what I read, the person they were looking for was apprehended at the residence. Pre-mature surrenders are very dangerous and to be avoided to mitigate liability in my opinion. There are times when they are a neccessity, as Bill stated, but the liability and level of comprehension of the process by law enforcement makes it even more frightening.

Scott

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