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Bounty hunting boom up after Katrina
09:38 AM CDT on Saturday, April 7, 2007
By Rucks Russell / 11 News
Rucks Russell's 11 News report
The big business of bounty hunting has just gotten a lot bigger.
Profits are on the rise in Houston, but what’s driving that economic boom might surprise you.
It’s been two-and-a-half years since Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans, launching a storm of suspects that continues to rage through the streets of Houston.
Just ask husband and wife bounty hunters Scott and Nancy Coyle, who’ve just captured a bond runner from Louisiana — a trend that’s been driving their business through the roof.
11 News
Katrina bond jumpers mean big business for bounty hunters.
“We can leave the house at 7 or 8 in the morning and not get home until early the next day,” Scott Coyle said.
Because the calls to round up suspects who’ve failed to show in court continue to come in. One man was wanted on a domestic violence assault charge, and there are others.
From sunup till sundown, the former Friendswood police officer and his wife are always on the move.
“I can go and do this same job, risking my life, and make three times as much as I did as a police officer,” Coyle said.
They aren’t the only ones cashing in. A bounty hunter who works alone and asked not to be identified said Hurricane Katrina has made her profits soar.
“New Orleans pops up quite a bit,” a woman named Debbie said. “You might as well put New Orleans and Houston together.”
In fact at any given time, there are estimated to be hundreds of bond violators on the run in this city. Experts believe many of them are Katrina evacuees, with offenses ranging from benign misdemeanors to violent felonies.
11 News checked with some of the larger Houston bond companies. Workers said about 25 percent of their overall bond forfeitures involve suspects from Louisiana.
In recent months, crime has risen in Houston with murders, assaults and gang-related violence involving evacuees sparking fear among many here.
And as suspects flee, bounty hunters are in a constant race, to catch up, in a storm with no letup in sight.
