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Published: April 04, 2006 11:27 pm
Police: Man impersonated bounty hunter
By FRANK SOJAK
The Tribune-Democrat
A Moxham man, enamored with the cable TV show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” has been charged with impersonating a bounty hunter and then “threatening himself” to get off the hook.
John Matthew Chapman, 26, of the 800 block of Coleman Avenue, Johnstown, was charged by the Richland Township police with a range of crimes.
Chapman – who coincidentally has the same surname as television’s bounty hunter, Duan “Dog” Chapman – was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Max Pavlovich, Richland Township, and lodged in Cambria County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Richland Detective Kevin Gaudlip said Chapman had created a fake bail-bond agency called Chapman Bail Bonds at his residence; manufactured a fake photo ID identifying himself as a bail-enforcement agent; carried a fake badge and had handcuffs.
The scheme unraveled after some of Chapman’s friends, who reside with him, went to The Galleria to buy a cell phone. One of them, a woman, wrote a worthless check to pay for the phone.
Later, when the store was ready to file a bad-check charge, the friends, minus the woman who issued the check, went to return the phone, Gaudlip said.
After they left, Chapman then showed up at the store, flashing his fake identification and telling store employees that the woman was a bail jumper and that he was searching for her, Gaudlip said.
Chapman apparently did that with the expectation that the store would not pursue the bad-check charge.
The store didn’t believe his story and called mall security, which got his name and telephone number, Gaudlip said.
Chapman returned to the mall to continue his ruse when police anonymously called him at home saying they had information about the woman.
He was arrested for his impersonation of a bounty hunter, then released with the case to proceed through summons.
After leaving, Chapman called Cambria 911, purporting to be a man named Stephen Riley, and made death threats against Chapman and saying “Riley” forced Chapman to pose as a bounty hunter, Gaudlip said.
Later, Chapman, who is married, set fictitious e-mails, purportedly from his wife, to the Johnstown police saying it was his twin brother who was pretending to be a bounty hunter, Gaudlip said.
On March 30, Chapman called 911 again, claiming to be Riley, and saying he has Chapman hostage and at gunpoint, Gaudlip said.
That prompted emergency police responses at two residences in the Johnstown area, Gaudlip said. Chapman then was apprehended and admitted to impersonating a bounty hunter.
Gaudlip said a bail bondsman must be registered with the county Clerk of Courts to operate. Chapman was not registered, he said.
Chapman has been charged with three counts of disorderly conduct; two counts each of making a false alarm to the 911 center, false reports to police, obstructing justice and terroristic threats; and one count of tampering with public records or information.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 2.
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