Dog Catching: Feds Lock Up Bounty Hunter
You never know when you're going to need a good bail bondsman. Or when a good bail bondsman is going to need a good lawyer.
Dog the Bounty Hunter's Duane "Dog" Chapman, who parlayed his career hunting down criminals who've violated the terms of their bail into reality TV stardom on A&E, was arrested Thursday in Honolulu, Jay Bieber, Deputy U.S. Marshal for the district of Hawaii, told E! Online. An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday.
Chapman, 53, son Leland Chapman, 29, and colleague Timothy Chapman (no relation), 41, were picked up by federal marshals at 6:30 a.m. on charges of illegal detention and conspiracy related to the capture in 2003 of Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir who was convicted in absentia of raping three women in California and then fled to Mexico.
After Luster flew the coop, Chapman and his posse (pre-TV show, yet accompanied by a camera crew) tracked their quarry down to Puerto Vallarta. The bounty hunters took him into their own brand of custody June 18, 2003, and returned him to the U.S., where he was jailed the next day.
Which the Mexican authorities frowned upon. Soon after the Chapmans refused to turn Luster over to the local police in Mexico, they were arrested for "deprivation of liberty." They were scheduled to appear at a court hearing on July 15, 2003, but never showed up.
The Mexican government is looking to extradite the trio, currently in custody in Honolulu, back to Mexico. Bail has not yet been set.
"You see what the American government is doing to us?" Chapman said during his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. "They throw us in jail. I'm so upset about this."
"This is obviously a very upsetting time for the Chapman family," Chapman's rep, Mona K. Wood, said in a statement. "Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Chapman is a true modern-day hero. He arrests the bad guys--he is definitely not one of them. He shall be vindicated."
Meanwhile, the network that brought Chapman's exploits as family man and head of Da Kine Bail Bonds into the public eye is standing by its star.
"A&E supports Dog and his family during this difficult time and is proud of his role in helping to bring a convicted serial rapist to justice," the network said in a statement. Luster is currently serving a 124-year prison term.
Chapman is said to have gotten the better of 6,000 bail jumpers and criminals during his 25 years in the business and Da Kine Bail Bonds has locations on Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii.
His memoir, You Can Run but You Can't Hide: The Life and Times of Dog the Bounty Hunter, is due out in February 2007.
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