http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20 ... S/71012003
Article published Oct 12, 2007
Bondsman accused in shooting
By Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff
A Knoxville bail bondsman was arrested Wednesday night after he was accused of shooting a Seymour man four times. The shooting happened Tuesday when the bail bondsman came to the man’s residence seeking money for bailing the man’s girlfriend out of jail.
According to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office report, the incident began Tuesday when Marc E. Spears, 37, of Unchained Bail Bonds in Knoxville, showed up at the Seymour home of David Breeding, 33, looking for Breeding’s girlfriend.
Breeding said his girlfriend came “frantically running inside the residence,” followed by a man that he did not recognize, later identified as Spears. Spears allegedly grabbed Breeding’s girlfriend and told the 33-year-old man that he was taking her, the report said.
Breeding stepped in between his girlfriend and Spears, and then they all went outside of the house. At this point, Breeding said he recognized the man as Spears — a bail bondsman who had bailed his girlfriend out of the Knox County Jail two nights prior.
Breeding reported he asked Spears what he wanted, and the bondsman said he “wanted his money.” Breeding said he had already paid the bondsman two nights ago and should not owe him any more money.
“The two men began to argue ‘nose to nose’ and Mr. Spears then began to use a stun gun several times on Mr. Breeding before Mr. Breeding struck Mr. Spears with his fist,” Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy Emily Lawson reported.
“Mr. Spears then retrieved a small silver handgun that had been concealed on his person and put it to Mr. Breeding’s right temple and told him that he was taking Mr. Breeding’s girlfriend,” the report said.
Lawson reported that Breeding said he told the bondsman, “You’ll have to kill me if you’re (going to) take her.” The two men briefly broke away from the fight while Breeding spoke with his girlfriend.
“Mr. Spears then began to shoot at and walk towards Mr. Breeding from approximately 10 feet away, shooting him four times, the last shot being fired when the muzzle was inches from Mr. Breeding’s chest, close enough that Mr. Breeding was able to strike Mr. Spears in the face,” the report said.
The two men then began physically fighting and Spears struck Breeding in the face with his pistol grip, the report said. According to Breeding and his girlfriend, Spears and a female with him then handcuffed the 31-year-old girlfriend and “locked her in Mr. Spears’ van.”
Breeding said he asked Spears what he would have to do to get his girlfriend out of jail, and Spears told him he would have to pay the money he owed. Breeding’s 31-year-old sister wrote Spears a check, Spears wrote a receipt and Breeding’s girlfriend was released.
Breeding did not initially report the incident because he said he was on probation in Nevada and thought he would get sent to prison. He later went to the Blount Memorial Hospital emergency room because he said he was “blacking out” and “coughing up blood.”
Lawson responded to the hospital to speak with the gunshot victim. Breeding’s sister gave the deputy a plastic bag that contained two brass .25-caliber Winchester shell casings and one spent slug that she said she recovered in the driveway where the shooting occurred. She also showed Lawson a receipt that she had received from Spears.
Lawson reported that she observed Breeding to have two gunshot wounds to his left upper arm and two gunshot wounds to the right side of his chest. He also had a laceration on his nose and his left hand was swollen at the knuckles.
Spears, North Vangilder Place, Knoxville, was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault and was free from the Blount County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He is required to appear at 1:30 p.m. Monday to address the charge.
