Keep Bailing

Pop culture oftentimes depicts bail bondsmen as being tough, rough-and-tumble, tattooed men with long ponytails.  Even now, you’re likely conjuring up a mental image of a big, beefy guy sitting behind a desk, browsing the Internet for tattoo parlors and pool halls. Let’s just say Hollywood isn’t exactly hitting the nail on the head with the hammer.

Fact or Fiction:  Bail bondsmen wear leather, carry guns, and chase down bad guys.

Fiction:   Bail bondsmen are everyday people, who are licensed by the California Department of Insurance and are able to assist a defendant get out of jail before their court date. There are fathers, daughters, wives, sons, and even soccer moms that are bail bondsmen.

They are not Read more »

The bail bonds company that posted the $1 million bail bond for Randy and Evi Quaid is quickly running out of time.

In 2010 the Quaids were arrested, taken to a Santa Barbara County jail and charged with trespassing and felony vandalism for allegedly squatting in a Montecito home they previously owned.  The Quaids then skipped to Canada after being bailed out of jail citing the need to escape a cult that kills celebrities. In continued made-for-Hollywood twists, Beth and Duane Chapman of Dog The Bounty Hunter fame, recently issued a warning for the Quaids.

If the bail bonds company fails to produce the Quaids to law enforcement officials before Read more »

Here’s some Friday Fun for you: Hawaii News Now today reported that Duane and Beth Chapman, best known for their hit A&E television series “Dog the Bounty Hunter” are scheduled to open a “new logo and merchandise” shop in Hawaii Kai on Saturday.

The new shop, Da Kine Dog House, will compliment Beth’s Da Kine Bail Bonds business.  The store will carry DVD’s, bags, mugs, photos, books, mouse pads, clothing and more.  Locals expect the opening of Da Kine Dog House will attract swarms of fans who wand to get a closer look at life inside the Dog house.

The grand opening will be held Read more »

…well, that’s the way most dreams begin around this office…

With the success of shows like “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, it’s only logical that the first mental image that people have when they think of bail bondsmen is that of big, burly tattooed guys with braided ponytails.  For people who work within the industry, however, that notion is, well, laughable.

On Oct. 23 ABC will be debuting “Once Upon a Time“, a show which will take things to a very far other end of that spectrum.

The show’s heroine, Emma Swan; is a 28-year-old bail bondsman. But when Henry – the son she gave up 10 years ago – finds her, “everything changes.” She’s not exactly the soccer-mom bail bondsman you may find at our office.

Henry is desperate for his mom’s help and thinks that Emma is actually the long, lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.  Even stranger, he believes that Story Brooke, the sleepy New England town he calls home, is really part of a curse cast by the Evil Queen.  He also believes that his adopted mother, Regina, is none other than the Evil Queen herself!

There are any number of directions the show’s writers could go with this.  The show’s creators talk about using it as a platform to discuss things like “Why is Grumpy grumpy?” or “Why is Geppetto so lonely that he’s forced to create Pinocchio for companionship?”

But maybe, just maybe, they’ll get Read more »

Randy Quaid has officially found himself atop Dog the Bounty Hunter’s “it-list”. Quaid, who is perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, has been on the run with his wife, Evi, since 2010 after they were found squatting in a Santa Barbara home.

The two were charged with felony residential burglary and misdemeanor entering a non-commercial building without consent.  Although the Quaids were released on bail, they fled to Canada in hopes of avoiding further legal action.

Dog’s wife, Beth, has come out guns-a-blazing in a Sept. 19 blog post, warning “we are coming to get you.”

“Every time you hear Read more »

Bobby Brown, a Colorado Springs bail bondsman, is suing the creators of A&E’s show Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Brown’s lawsuit was filed last wek. A&E, Hybrid Films and D&D Television are all named in the lawsuit, in which Brown claims he was only paid $6,000 for the contributions he made to the show. He is seeking over $75,000 in damages, according to court documents.

The court records show that Brown took part in more than 40 episodes, which he claims helped to lay the foundation for the series. It is also stated that Brown was not paid for each Colorado episode.

The series has earned over $400 million, gross, according to court documents. It is Brown’s belief that he deserves a portion of the show’s revenue since he is one of the stars.

In his lawsuit, Brown claims that Duane “Dog” Chapman Read more »

PBUS, Professional Bail Agents of the United States, is scheduled to hold it’s annual Winter conference February 21-24 in Las Vegas, NV at the Flamingo Hotel.

Last month, the PBUS held a small gathering in San Antonio to propose speakers for the upcoming conference and since then, have confirmed the following keynote guest speakers. Beth and Duane Chapman, from one of A&E’s top series, “Dog the Bounty Hunter” are scheduled to do several things at the upcoming PBUS. Beth Chapman will be speaking about her opinion of the bail industry and its outlook for the future. The following day, both Duane and Beth will be speaking on behalf of their hit series.

Additionally, PBUS will be holding a raffle for new members and their sponsors. Whoever brings a new colleague to PBUS will be automatically entered to win a lunch date with Duane and Beth Chapman.

Also scheduled to speak this year is “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio. Coming from Arizona, Sheriff Arpaio is a strict law-and-order representative that, in his years of service, has declared war on illegal immigration, forced inmates to wear pink and sleep in tents, and he has emphasized the punishment element of incarceration.  Sheriff Arpaio is quoted as saying [to inmates] “If you don’t like it here, don’t come back!”

Sheriff Arpaio is a controversial speaker and will be sharing his thoughts about the bail industry as well as the criminal justice system.

This year’s PBUS should be an exciting one with a lot of great information floating around as well as a great place for networking and learning more about this industry.

Don’t blame “Dog The Bounty Hunter” Chapman. He was just doing his job when he located and arrested Hoang Nguyen for not going to court on several warrants. Mr. Nguyen is suing Dog for damaging his reputation when his arrest was caught on camera for the Dog The Bounty Hunter Show. Dog’s crew allegedly used pepper pellets.

But this past Tuesday, another arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Nguyen, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Dog. This time, it was for failure to file proof of completion for a public service program regarding his driving on a suspended license.

Seems this is about the 12th time Mr. Nguyen has Read more »

I am not a Dog the Bounty Hunter fan, per se. However, when people first find out that I’m a bail bondsman the question of “Dog” inevitably comes up. So, I follow Duane Chapman, aka “The Dog”, to some limited extent.

I recently ran across an article where I learned something new about Chapman - a Tony Robbins influence:

Chapman also said that, besides religion, “my changing point was Anthony Robbins.”

When they first met, he says, Robbins said to him: “You’re the greatest challenge of my life.” They embarked on a partnership Read more »

Upon hearing that I am a female bail bondsman, the first thing I’m usually asked about is Dog The Bounty Hunter. However, several people have excitedly talked to me about Stephanie Plum. Honestly, however, I had never heard of her before someone asked me about two years ago. When the first person who told me about her wacky adventures, I could easily confirm that Ms. Plum was purely fiction.

Recently, I was on vacation and there were three Janet Evanovich books on the bookshelf where we stayed. I thought that the perfect opportunity to find out what Stephanie Plum is all about. It only took me to page 3 of Three to Get Deadly to see Read more »