Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the evening of Sunday, May 19th, a series of crimes will be committed on national television. It will start with a simple misdemeanor and will end up with a simply awesome collection of potential charges when that misdemeanor magically turns a number of otherwise legal, possibly even productive and noble, acts into crimes. Who wants to know WTF I am talking about???
In mid-late March of this year, convicted felon and non-Penal Code 1299-compliant "bounty hunter" Duane Chapman, along with the likewise non-certified Alice "Beth" Barmore/Chapman and Leland Chapman, conducted (or claimed to anyway) fugitive recovery operations for Big Dog Bail Bonds in the Los Angeles area. While the owner of Big Dog Bail Bonds states that he is a licensed bail agent chasing his own skip and the Chapmans are simply assisting consultants, it doesn't work that way out here! The bondsman can pursue and arrest his own fugitives, yes. However, anybody else MUST be compliant with the certifying penal code. Enter the dOG. Mr. Chapman and family are committing a misdemeanor by, in any way, conducting investigative measures toward apprehending a California bail jumper. However, as can be seen on the commercial, they do not stop there. They are shown in the streets of LA, actively "hunting" at least one fugitive. Now the fun begins. This lack of compliance, and Mr. Chapman's felony status, and the resulting misdemeanor, turns the whole arrest unlawful. This can lead to a number of charges ranging from breaking and entering to unlawful detention to kidnapping to weapons charges to..........
Let the fun begin. "Dog and Beth: On the Hunt: LA Consequential" airs this Sunday at 9pm Pacific Time. (Note: These crimes have long since been committed. Filming was done in March, as evidenced by photos and videos on the Big Dog Bail Bonds Facebook page.)
(Of course, we all know that either a loophole has been found, or the power of the media simply hogtied the local law. Otherwise, I don't think they would've shot this. That said, I don't think this should be allowed to happen, or go unchecked.)
_________________ Tom Duprey Founding member, NABBI (Nat'l Assoc. of Bail Bond Inv.) Ca. Bail Agent Lic#1845795 Owner/Operator, Thomas Duprey Bail Bonds Owner/Operator, Orange County Bounty (714) 727-4689
|