Keep Bailing

Fun Friday Bail Facts: Harold Hadly Jr. never expected that a note written about the joys of flatulence would prompt a campus-wide bomb scare. Unbeknownst to him, the 11 emergency agencies that were dispatched to the Mississippi junior college took that note very, very seriously.

The young Hadly, 19, said that “bombs” is simply a slang term for “passing gas”, and that his note about “passing bombs in the library” was not about explosives, but about noxious gas.  When the note was dropped, found by another student and passed to a teacher in the library, things were quickly blown out of proportion.

A Huffington Post Weird News correspondent said that Hadley was arrested and Read more »

Bail agents from all over the country traveled to Los Vegas this week to attend the 2012 annual Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS) conference.

Most people have never needed to use the services of a bail bonds company before and because of that, many still have the belief that bail agents spend their days sitting behind desks, smoking cigars and throwing darts.  The truth of the matter is that there are more than 15,000 licensed bail agents throughout the country and more than 50 percent are women.

8 News Now said that this year’s group of conference attendees remain busy because more and more people are being arrested and taken to jail.  The attendees also wanted to make sure that the public has a greater understanding of the differences between bail bondsmen and bounty hunters.

Bail bondsmen are hired by Read more »

Inmates at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail are not the only ones itching to get out. There are many jail deputies who do not enjoy their time working inside the LA County lockups. Officials for the Sheriff’s Department are hoping that proposed changes, which will speed up promotions, will get deputies more enthusiastic about their time inside the jails.

As of now, deputies have to go on street patrol in order to become supervisors. The new plan will allow deputies to move up in rank while staying on duty in county jails. Sheriff Lee Baca hopes that the two-track career system will allow for a core of experienced jailers who actually want to work in the corrections system.

LASD has resisted having two sets of deputies for years. With recent scrutiny of the LA jails Read more »

It seems that former American Idol contestant William Hung may have officially given up on his singing career. Reportedly, eight years after his memorable “She Bangs” audition, Hung has taken a job with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.  He is currently employed as a technical crime analyst, sources say, and is adapting comfortably to his new role.  Hung told the tabloid that the job is “pretty cool” and that he “enjoys what he does”.  Working at the department, he feels, has a lot of value.

Hung first gained fame during his off-key rendition of the hit Ricky Martin song during the 2004 auditions for American Idol.  Although he was quickly eliminated, his cult-like following grew rapidly.  He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The George Lopez Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Dateline NBC and also on Celebrity Deathmatch.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is Read more »

A possible case of mumps has led to the partial quarantine of some inmates in the Maguire Detention Facility, the San Mateo County jail, when one of them became ill on Tuesday, according to a county health official. On Tuesday morning, one inmate went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms. The doctor said that there was a chance it was mumps and collected a specimen for testing by state health officials.

Robyn Thaw, spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Health System said, “We are not reporting this as an outbreak or even a confirmed case of mumps a this time.”

While the results are pending, some of the third-floor inmates in the Maguire Correctional Facility will Read more »

Or, Why Use An Expert Bail Bondsman

An Austin, Texas bail bondsman has been arrested and charged with theft.   Police say she is accused of stealing the personal items of a client while they were being booked into a local jail. Reportedly, the woman, Patricia Gordon Stark, is the owner of Ace Bail Bonds.  In October of 2011 the defendant was apprehended outside of her attorney’s office by a private investigator hired by Stark.  At that time, police say, the victim “had a purse that contained 8,000 Euros, valued at approximately $11,500 U.S.   She also had in her possession approximately $500 in U.S. currency as well as a cell phone.

Although she was taken to the Caldwell County Jail to be booked and processed, her personal items were brought to Stark’s office.  Stark said that the private investigator kept the U.S. currency and that she placed the Euros into an office safe.

When the victim completed her jail sentence, Read more »

One for the Money charts Plum’s transition from sales clerk to bail recovery agent. The story begins with  Jersey-girl Plum (Heigel) finding herself broke and facing eviction. Desperate for money she turns to her bail-bondsman cousin to see if he needs an office assistant.  When she learns a position isn’t open, but that he is in need of someone who can help track down bail skips, Plum blackmails him into giving her the job.

Katherine Heigel has purchased the rights to Janet Evanovich novels in which the heroine, Stephanie Plum, decides to ditch her career in lingerie sales to begin working as a bounty hunter. The first film in the action-comedy series, One for the Money, opened Jan. 27.  The National Post has reported that Heigel may even be looking to turn Evanovich’s books into a franchise.

Plum’s first case involves tracking down her high-school boyfriend and she Read more »

A Santa Monica man said he was locked up for five days last November because he didn’t have phone numbers of friends, family members or a bail bondsman committed to memory. Stephen Petrick was arrested and charged with false imprisonment after trying to help a pregnant woman kick a heroin habit.  Although his intentions were pure when he locked her inside his Santa Monica home so she couldn’t buy drugs, the situation quickly went downhill.

LA Weekly reports he was taken to the LA County Jail to be booked and processed.  When he was finally able to use a pay-phone to call out, Petrick realized the only number he had memorized was a friend’s cell phone number.   Cell phones, however, are unable to accept collect calls.

Petrick, whose bail had been set at $150,000; said he had no issue in being able to pay for a bail bond.  He did, however, have problems Read more »

Local police precincts throughout Los Angeles County have said they have already begun preparing for a widespread DUI crackdown on Super Bowl Sunday.   Their message for those contemplating driving while under the influence is simple.

Don’t do it.

NBC Los Angeles reported the Los Angeles Police Department Avoid the 100 DUI Task Force said they will be deploying special roving DUI patrols on Sunday, Feb. 5  in communities throughout the area looking to stop and arrest drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs. These DUI patrols are, in addition to regularly scheduled patrol officers, all looking for the tale-tell signs of an intoxicated driver behind the wheel.

In 2010, over 10,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, law enforcement officials said.  In California, this led to 791 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver.

If you are hosting a Super Bowl XLVI Party, you are asked to:

• Make sure all of your guests Read more »

Hollywood’s favorite “good girl” Selena Gomez is ditching her squeaky-clean image and heading to jail – or at least her character in the upcoming film Spring Breakers is.

The Disney Star will be partying, drinking, and getting crazy with her girlfriends, she told US  Weekly.  In one scene, the coeds even wind up robbing a restaurant as a means of funding the trip.   Although the edgy part is a far-cry from her off-screen persona, Gomez said she was up for the challenge and embraced the role. Viewers should keep in mind that movie-set jails are quite different from what celebrity female arrestees like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan experienced when they were booked into the Lynwood Jail, the Los Angeles County women’s jail.

As far as having concerns about her younger, tween-fans Read more »