Scott Gries / A & E Colorado law enforcement has a bone to pick with Duane "Dog" Chapman.
Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey took to his blog and criticized the star of A&E's Dog the Bounty Hunter and his team for failing to follow proper procedure when they bought an "injured, contaminated mess" of a catch into jail on Wednesday.
So what exactly went down?
According to the sheriff, it was Dog's penchant of creating unnecessary drama for the cameras that crossed the line.
The incident happened when Chapman apprehended a "skip," identified as 29-year-old Andrew Distel, and delivered him to the sheriff's department in the town of Grand Junction, where he was wanted on felony drug possession charges. Around the time Dog and his crew turned up with Distel, who had reportedly been hit with pepper spray numerous times, Hilkey was attending a picnic honoring county employees for their years of humble public service.
And what enfolded, he said, couldn't have been a starker contrast between "30 year humble professionals vs. genuine profit-driven peacockery."
"Ok, I get it; you have a show to produce. Shows need drama. Drama is easy to create and capture in this business. Fine, do your thing and move on to the next revenue-generating activity," he wrote.
Hilkey then went on to take issue with how Dog got his collar:
"What happened inside the [sheriff department] lobby though is what is most troubling to me. While Dog stayed outside, shirtless and sweaty, prancing back and forth waving his golden locks for the camera, his team brought this freshly pepper-sprayed fellow into the enclosed space of the Sheriff's Office lobby with other citizens present. They also brought him in injured," he said.
Hilkey noted that's the last thing Chapman should've done in this situation.
"So without any regard for contaminating the other citizens in the lobby of the sheriffs' office, or the employees of the sheriff's office, they just march this injured, contaminated mess in and expect us to jump and ask for an autograph??? Sorry, but staff did what they would do with anyone, including police officers, who bring someone to jail injured and chemically contaminated."
The sheriff pointed out the suspect is required to receive medical attention first. But that seemed to mattered little to Dog's wife, Beth, according to Hilkey, who he said "attempted to lay a big ol' guilt trip on our staff about 'releasing' their catch and educating us about what our judges would think of us."
Hilkey insisted that Distel was not "released" and that his department was merely following rules that every other bounty hunter who doesn't need to mug for the camera follows.
Heather Benjamin, a spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, reiterated that assessment.
"Dog brought someone in...not knowing the standards of bringing someone in who has some medical wounds," she said. "There was multiple people who had pepper spray on them and with our ventilation system we had multiple people affected.
"We're not gonna debate Dog. We want to talk about hard-working county employees who continue to not get public recognition."
Chapman and his crew have since left Grand Junction, though they have reportedly been in the area on several occasions over the last few years looking for skips.
A rep for Dog and A&E was unavailable for comment.
At least Chapman didn't hurl the 'N' word.