Keep Bailing

Two Los Angeles County jail maximum security inmates were captured on Wednesday after escaping from the Castaic jail, where they were being held for several armed robberies.  Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies said Winder Barrios and Jose Aldana were taken into custody without incident about a half a mile from the jail.

They had been reportedly missing for about 14 hours from the North County Correctional Facility.  Residents reported there were two men asking people to give them clothes.  Barrios and Aldana were found in a storage container nearby.

Both men were working on a jail loading dock Read more »

One inmate spoke his mind so perfectly, “How do I find a way to go beyond these bars?” He describes that being is jail is a difficult enviornment in which to exist; with the constant clanking of jail cell doors being shut, inmates shouting and loud instructions coming through the intercom system.

Being locked in a jail cell can’t be easy. But a program initiated at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail , may offer many inmates a much needed ’metaphysical outlet’ by way of meditation classes, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A Buddhist Chaplain has been helping the inmates see a calmer, lighter sense of being through a popular weekly meditiation course being offered. So successful, it’s now Read more »

There’s a new crime wave in LA — geriatric taggers!  Sheriff’s deputies recently arrested a 73-year-old local man for allegedly putting slap tags — stickers with a printed message — inside MTA buses and stations.

Perhaps the aged tagger had had it with ‘teenage tagger-hooligans and their misspellings and their naughty language’.  He certainly showed those ‘young whipper-slappers’ a thing or two by eluding deputies for over half a year.  Witness descriptions of an old man seen around LA’s Westside, plastering orange and black stickers that asked “Who Is John Scott?”  deepened the mystery.

According to the Los Angeles Times, deputies answered his question on November 13, when Read more »

Famed writer  and director and Oscar winning filmmaker, Roman Polanski has come to the end of his run. Polanski, now 76, was taken into custody Saturday in Zurich, Switzerland by Swiss authorities. He’s facing extradiction, having pled guilty to drugging and raping a 13-year old Calfornia girl back in 1977.

Federal officials want to extradite him back to Los Angeles courts to stand before a judge. Seems Polanski was at actor Jack Nicholson’s Read more »

The Los Angeles Police Department has announced that an arrest has been made in conjuction with a break in at the home of Lindsay Lohan.

Nicholas Prugo, 18, of Calabasas, is believed to have been one of a group of people who were caught on tape entering Lohan’s home last month. LAPD officer Rosario Herrera says detectives made the arrested on Thursday morning on suspicion of felony burglary. Prugo’s bail was set at  $20,000.

Officers believe that Prugo is Read more »

According to the LA Times and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, 20 inmates  at Los Angeles County jails have been infected with the swine flu. Most of the inmates that were infected reside in the Castaic Pitchess Jail.

All inmates that were diagnosed with the swine flu were placed in isolation, similar to that of San Diego jails. There they will be receiving tests and monitoried for seven days. All infected inmates are not receiving visitors. Two of the infected inmates have been taken to a local hospital and are said to be in good condition.

This is not the first reported case of swine flu at the Los Angeles County jail Read more »

Last week, in a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Lee Baca proposed closing the minimum security jail at the Pitchess Detention Center in order to mitigate $79 million in losses to the department due to budget cuts.

The Los Angeles Daily News article states:

The proposal, if ultimately approved, would reduce the amount of time county-sentenced inmates spend in jail and potentially could increase jail violence, Read more »

California Laws Will Keep You Safe

This year, the much anticipated 4th of July holiday falls on a glorious Saturday. What a joy to have the day off to barbeque and relax with family and friends as dusk reveals those beautiful bursts of light in the sky.

However, with all the fires in California as of late, officials are cracking down on any illegal fireworks. This year, spring rains have led to an over abundance of dry grass and brush on mountains, hills, fields and road sides. One single spark from an illegal firework could ignite another monstrous blaze and ruin everyone’s joy.

Officials ask for the help of the public to make this year’s Read more »

We hear it almost everyday: “What’s your rate?” or ”Can I get a bond at 5%?”

We know when someone calls and starts with those questions, we probably aren’t going to write the bond. How do we know? We know because the legal bail rates in California are clear. The people we deal with for bail are concerned with our professionalism and how quickly and efficiently we can get their situation settled. They aren’t looking to do business illegally.

So why do people who need bail call with such questions? One word: “Undercutting.” This is the term used for the practice of offering illegally low rates on bail. It’s a major problem Read more »

While I couldn’t stay awake long enough last night to get an official victory, out of the gate Carmen Trutanich was holding a lead on his opponent Jack Weiss. I was happy to find this morning that Los Angeles has a new City Attorney  who brings high hopes for changes in our criminal system – “Nuch” Trutanich.

As a bail bondsman, I see the City Attorney’s job in terms of Read more »