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(DISCLAIMER - SO THAT NO ISSUES ARISE OUT OF THE ACCUSATIONS OF SLANDER, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BASED SOLEY UPON FACTUAL INFORMATION THAT IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC)
Jerry - to start off with, you sound a little mad, well I for one am too, because I have worked hard in this industry to promote a professional image, and am currently lobbying to increase training and professionalism within our state. This is not a personal stab at you, nor will I get into a pissing match with you. The individuals that frequent this website are all in the business of professional bail enforcement and it's image to society, however since you chose to respond, I will reply -
To set the record straight, YES, LaDonna is a great person to work for WHEN YOU CAN GET PAID, which goes to show that she, has you snowed also. I've been party to picking up individuals for LaDonna for quite some time now, and she is a great person, with the exception of hiring unqualified and untrained FRA's that are working cases for 5 % and giving the same cases to 2 or 3 agents for a free for all. A recent individual that was doing pickups for her was a convicted felony sexual offender, who at the time of doing his work for her had a valid felony arrest warrant on him for failing to register as a sexual offender. My issue with LaDonna is that I recently did a revocation for her on an individual that had a total of $ 50k in bonds and she knew he was going to run. She called my team since this individual was supposed to be very dangerous, and wanted me to revoke the smallest bond, a 10k. My normal contracted rates are 15 % for an immediate revocation, however I waved this and was only charging her 10 % ($ 1000) to save her 50 k in a skip (hmmm...sounded pretty fair to me). To this day, she refuses to pay that amount because she gave me the address of where he was at?
You are very right, none of us were there, and maybe everyone doesn't know the true story so I will post the follow up to the original article for everyone to make their own judgements -
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Rocky Mountain News (CO)
November 23, 2005
Section: News
Edition: Final
Page Number: 8A
Bail bondsman's agent chased, shot at wrong man, police say
Source: Sarah Langbein, Rocky Mountain News
Staff writer Hector Gutierrez contributed to this story
The agent for a bail bondsman trying to apprehend a fugitive mistakenly chased down and shot at the wrong man near an elementary school, police said Tuesday.
Gunfire erupted Monday afternoon outside Charlotte Godsman Elementary School, 2120 W. Arkansas Ave., as students were getting out of class.
Jerry Morgan, 23, told police he was tracking down Michael Lopez, 25, a fugitive who has previous arrests for assault and drugs and a conviction for sexual assault on a child.
Morgan and another agent drove to a home in the 1300 block of South Umatilla Street, belonging to extended family members of Lopez. There, they came across Lopez's cousin, Anthony Vialpando, in a light blue Ford.
Family members said Vialpando, 28, does not look anything like his cousin. Vialpando is a few inches taller than Lopez, has a shaved head and has a much darker complexion. Lopez also has a birthmark near his nose, said Lydia Herrera, Lopez's mother.
"I mean they don't look anything alike," Herrera said.
Herrera said Lopez is estranged from the family, and she and other relatives have not seen him for some time.
LaDonna Mullins, who operates LaDonna Bailbonds, accused Vialpando's relatives and the police of covering up for Lopez, and maintained that Lopez was the man they were chasing, was armed with a gun and was known to stay with family members.
"It was the right person," Mullins said. "They're just lying trying to cover their (mistake). It was Michael Lopez in the car. He's armed and dangerous. He will shoot a firearm in a minute."
Mullins said Morgan has provided good service for her company and others. Police said that during the confrontation Morgan and a companion ordered the man out of the car. When he refused, shots were fired into the car.
A chase ensued to the nearby school, where Morgan allegedly fired more shots, not knowing it was Vialpando, police said. Vialpando was not hurt. The incident forced school officials to order a lockdown, keeping students inside.
Herrera, who is Vialpando's aunt, said her frightened nephew drove from the school and parked his car in another neighborhood. Later in the evening, Vialpando returned to his home on South Umatilla Street where he lives with his sister. Herrera said she and family members later spoke with Vialpando and convinced him that he needed to talk to police.
"Anthony was like shocked," Herrera said. "He said, 'Auntie, I want to go to the police, but I don't want them to take me to jail.' I said, 'Why would they take you to jail? You haven't done anything wrong. You haven't been in any trouble.'
"He said, 'Let's just go.' "
Herrera accompanied Vialpando to the District 4 police station late Monday where officers interviewed him. Vialpando then was taken by police to the school and driven to the neighborhood where he had abandoned his car. Officers also took the clothes he wore when he allegedly was shot at to check for gun residue that would show whether he fired a gun at the agent, Herrera said.
Morgan was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully carrying and possessing a concealed weapon and having a weapon on school grounds. He has a prior Colorado arrest record for failing to appear in court. On Tuesday, authorities added an additional charge: felony menacing, preventing Morgan from bailing out of jail.
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When agents such as myself and others see this, we feel disgraced. I start by wondering how a 23 year old (which means factually that you cannot have been in this business for more than 5 years in this state) feels that he may be "highly trained". Secondly, Colorado does not license bail recovery agents, they only require that individuals complete the "Bail Recovery Training", to which I will note that you stated you had received your training from Mr. Warfield, whom if others would like to check, is not registered as a instructor with the Division of Insurance, at least on their website, which I know Beth Hamm, the Chief Investigator, keeps updated.
And again, you are right, none of us were there, however, the training and experience I have, nor the instruction that I give (nor probably the instruction from a retired Army Captain/Virginia State Trooper) would ever allow me or any of my students to put themselves in a situation
where they would be possessing a weapon in a school zone, let alone discharging that weapon, endangering the lives of others in the area. I only look at this in the same fashion that a judge or a jury is going to look at it, and lets say for argumentative purposes that you feel the suspect in the car was going to run you down......YOU put yourself in that position, and a self defense claim is not going to hold up. I would be curious to know as to whom you did receive your "Bail Recovery Training" from.
Again, as I have stressed in other posts, proper training and regulation within this industry will hopefully alleviate mistakes such as this.
Stay Safe !
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Kevin L Heely
Denver Fugitive Task Force
Denver, CO
303-961-3613
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