Keep Bailing

It was 1968 and the world was passionately in love with the Beatles’ music.  That’s  the time when “Officer Krupsky” — excuse me,  Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher set up a raid on John Lennon’s flat. When police entered they found what was a quantity of cannabis resin.  Imagine…

The drug discovery lead to John’s arrest and a £150 fine. (That’s about $250 American dollars today). John’s arrest papers have now surfaced revealing the details of the drug bust.

The following year, George Harrison’s home was raided while he Read more »

First fraudulently obtaining bail bonds, now lying to the police and worse: J.C. Mullins, Jr., of Abingdon Bail Bonds, reportedly engaged four thugs, one of whom he had bailed out, to find one a “skip” — someone who failed to appear in court on a bail bond.

According to the Bristol Harold Currier, three people are charged with abduction, robbery, impersonating a law enforcement officer, conspiracy and sexual battery and a fourth is charged as an accessory after they posed as drug enforcement agents and pulled a woman from her car, hand-cuffed her, strip searched her and turned her over to Mullins. This is behavior that reputable bounty hunters wouldn’t engage in.

As we reported back in July, Mullins Read more »

Wacky Mug Shot or Halloween Fun?

A Florida man couldn’t finish shaving before he was arrested and booked. Willie Geist has the story and the mugshot. Maybe I’m giving this guy too much credit, but I’m thinking this shave job has to be related to Halloweeen. What do you think?

If you’re a fool for a “frightening good time,” here’s a great vacation stay opportunity. You and a guest can spend the night in a jail cell turned hotel room for two. That’s right, the ‘haunted’ jail stay includes amenities like, two “Scream Cocktails” at the Alibi. (That’s what used to be the old drunk tank) turned night spot at the jail. You can also enjoy breakfast at the Clink Restaurant and more.

This scary Halloween package is offered at Boston cities’, Charles Street Jail.  Famous people have had their stay there, including Mayor James Michael Curley and “Catch Me If You Can,” Frank Abagnale Jr.  The old jail was closed by court order as being “too unfit for prisoners.”

Cut to the present, Read more »

Bad economic news, apparently Bondsmen Are Bailing Out, at least according to the Indianapolis Star:

these days, too many clients are asking for bail without the required collateral, such as a home or a car, diminishing bail bondsmen’s customer base. And not helping matters is a new policy by Marion County judges setting less expensive cash bonds for minor offenses…

Couple the economic situation with other “solutions” being offered in terms of bail. I hear talk of temporily lowering the bail schedule to allow more people in California to post bail. Huh? The bail schedule is set Read more »

What’s up with reality peeps from hit MTV show, “The Hills”? They seem to be taking turns spending time in the clink. This time, Stephanie Pratt, star of  the  MTV show was arrested early Sunday Morning on a DUI and was reportedly taken to the Van Nuys Jail. 

Stephanie attended  Holly Montag’s 26th birthday party at one of Hollywood’s trendy night clubs. Allegedly, she was driving home at 3:45 am when she was apprehended.

For those of you who keep up with our celebrity arrest blogs, you’ll recall  that Jason Wahler, another star from “The Hills” was arrested earlier this month in Yakima County for assault and drinking charges.

In order to get released from jail, one would customarily use the services of a traditional bail bondsman or post the full cash bail with the jail.  At the Ventura County jail, which is just a few miles from my office, they have a new way to post bail.  It’s called credit card bail.

How Credit Card Bail Works

The Ventura jail phone has a toll free 800 phone number posted near the phone.  An inmate or family member can call this phone number to bail out of jail.   Here is how it works:  Let’s say you have a bail for $20,000.    This credit card bail system allows the inmate to have the full bail charged (plus a 7% processing fee for Ventura County) to a credit card.  For example, on a $20,000 bail bond, an inmate would be charged a total of $21,400 for release from jail.  Once the defendant has appeared in court, they would be refunded $20,000.  The net effect of this transaction is that the inmate would be charged 7% to be bailed out of jail.   Who gets to keep the 7%?  It seems that the county takes a cut and the “third party” unlicensed processing entity makes a nice profit.

Ventura County is not the only county in California that enables inmates to bail out using a credit card.  In fact, several states now utilize some form of this process.  Over the past several years, credit card bail seems to be spreading like wildfire.

Why is this bad for California?

1. No accountability.  What happens when the defendant Read more »

In this day and age, posting an honest ad to do honest work can sometimes lead to precarious and dangerous scenarios. Case and point, four Los Angeles message therapists on two separate occasions placed ads on Craigslist for their services. Upon scheduling appointments, they were robbed by two bad parolees instead of two nice paying patrons.

It happened on September 28th and again on October 2nd, after the two parolees Read more »

Our favorite celebrity arrestee alum, Lindsay Lohan just may have to pay the jail piper again if she doesn’t follow a judges orders to complete her scheduled alcohol counseling meetings. This comes as a follow-up to her 2007 arrest for driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.

Beverly Hills Judge, Marsha Revel ordered Ms. Lohan to appear in Court because someone spilled the beans, telling the judge Lindsay had been missing her meetings.  According to her attorney, Lindsay has attended approximately 1/2  of the mandated sessions, but that her blooming career has kept her from attending the full schedule of compulsory alcohol rehab.

The judge stated Lindsay should not Read more »

In it’s heyday, the Brookdale Inn had the likes of movie star patrons Marilyn Monroe,  President Herbert Hoover and other national political leaders and cinema royalty. The Santa Cruz County  landmark  was even featured as a story on the television show, “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” The inn is now a popular ‘haunt’ for ghost chasers and the like. 

Owner Sanjiv Kakkar has been in trouble with the law lately.  He’s being charged on suspicion of not paying his workers’ salary, passing off rubber checks and  not paying for their insurance. Oh, and there’s that little detail of not carrying Worker’s Compensation. A $75,000 warrant was issued by Judge Paul Marigonda for Kakkar’s arrest.

Kakkar was arrested Friday afternoon by Santa Cruz County Detectives and the District Attorney’s Office.  He bailed out of the Santa Cruz Jail that night. And that’s just the beginning of Mr. Kakkar problems.

1. In August, he was involved with an apartment building fire (pictured right) which Read more »