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W A N T E DF U G I T I V E.com is a collection of bail fugitive profiles. A campaign that identifies the bail bond industries most wanted fugitives. This online service is designed to publicize photographs and information on bail jumpers wanted by local bail agencies and law enforcement. This website does not act in the capacity of an agent or agency.Our primary goal is to enlist the aid of the general public, by publicizing cash reward offers for information leading to the location and arrest of these fugitives. This service encourages callers to provide helpful information while remaining anonymous.The information posted on this site has been obtained solely from licensed Bail Agents, only after an individual has intentionally "failed to appear" for a scheduled court date in a criminal case. The information is presumed to be accurate at the time of posting and is removed after warrants have been executed or recalled.
News
February 22, 2009
Port Huron, Michigan
Agents bring fugitives to justice
Bounty hunters dispel Hollywood stereotypes
Michigan By JESSE DUNSMORE Times Herald
Dale Kress never goes hunting without the necessary equipment: a gun, a flashlight, pepper spray and a bulletproof vest.
Kress, 56, of Port Huron is what's known as a fugitive-recovery specialist or a bail-enforcement officer. He said those names tend to give a more professional image than the popular term does.
"A lot of us don't like to be called bounty hunters," Kress said.
People familiar with A&E's hit reality TV show "Dog the Bounty Hunter" understand the basic concept of the job: When someone skips bail, the bail bondsman stands to lose a large amount of money to the court and has the option of hiring somebody to find the fugitive. The bounty hunter gets an arrest warrant, a photo of the fugitive and some relevant information with which to start their search.
The job is rarely as simple as it appears on TV, said Dennis Swoffer Sr., 58, of Kimball Township, a bounty hunter who sometimes works with Kress.
"When it's made up for television, it's made up for television to look cool," Swoffer said.
For one thing, hunts aren't one-day jobs.
Kress said an average hunt takes a few days, and he and Swoffer have spent the majority of a year on some cases.
Sometimes family and friends give up a fugitive's location easily.
"The cosigner (of the bond) is usually pretty close to who you're picking up. ... And they don't want to pay the bond, so they'll give you (a fugitive's) whole history," Swoffer said. "Where he goes, where he stays, where he drinks at, where he goes to the bathroom at, where he sleeps."
Although Swoffer and Kress were reluctant to discuss too many tricks of their trade, Kress said people can be tracked by their cell-phone use, and computer programs are available to scan public records for signs of a fugitive who has left the area.
It's not uncommon for the search to go far and wide. Swoffer said his uncle, a bounty hunter from Mio, is tracking somebody in Albuquerque, N.M.
When bounty hunters do find their target, there are rules to what happens next. The arrest warra nt dictates a hunter can't enter a home without a reasonable suspicion that their fugitive is inside.
Other rules of the trade are just basic common sense, Kress and Swoffer said.
Kicking in a door and chasing a fugitive down - or "going in gangbusters," as Kress puts it - isn't an everyday part of the job. Instead, it's reckless behavior that causes problems and gives bounty hunters a bad name, Kress and Swoffer said.
"(People) think you just go out there and bust in doors, and unfortunately, you've got a lot of young guys who do that. ... We do it with a little bit of common sense," Kress said.
Plus, all the drama is not usually necessary.
"Usually, when we get there, they'll say, 'OK, you got me,'" Kress said.
Even fugitives who don't surrender easily seldom get violent, Swoffer and Kress said.
Swoffer said he and some partners once raided the home of an accused armed robber and found her hiding under laundry in a closet.
St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon stressed that bounty hunters don't have any direct affiliation with law enforcement, though the St. Clair County jail occasionally sees fugitives brought in by hunters. But, he said, he believes they perform a service.
"I think like every profession, there's good apples and bad apples," he said. "My experience with bounty hunters, which has been somewhat limited, has been good."
Kress and Swoffer don't have extensive backgrounds in law enforcement.
Kress was an advisor for the Michigan State Police Explorers program for Boy Scouts and had simply wanted to try bounty hunting for some time. He started three years ago, and said he is certified, but didn't want to discuss where he earned the certification.
Swoffer has been a bounty hunter for six years and once was a member of the St. Clair County Sheriff Department's mounted division, a volunteer unit that has been disbanded. He trained with his uncle.
There are currently no statutes in Michigan that regulate the process of becoming a bounty hunter, though bail bondsmen have to be licensed by the state. Laws in other states vary - some require certification, others require a state licenses, and a few, including Illinois and Oregon, have banned the practice.
While the job may not be exactly what you see on TV, Kress and Swoffer said it's definitely rewarding - and exciting.
"You're helping some people," Swoffer said. "You might be getting a rapist off the street. You might be getting a drug dealer off the street. If you get a drug dealer off the street, you might be helping 10 kids.
"To me, it's a cool job, and it's a rewarding job," he said, "and it's got to be taken seriously."
_________________________________ Local Bond Co. Takes Fugitive Search To Craigslist
Arezow Doost
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
In one way or another, the downwardly spiraling economy has had an impact on small businesses. To try and increase business, one North Texas bail bonds company is being creative. The 'mom and pop' operation is turning to the World Wide Web in hopes of getting their most dangerous criminals off the street.
E.B. Nance, of 'Bargain Bail Bonds Too!', is in the business of finding criminals, but lately he hasn't been having very much luck. "It's my job to try to bring them to justice," he explained.
To help bring those criminals to justice and do his job, the Fort Worth business has turned to the internet to find their most wanted. "It's kind of a last resort to put it on craigslist," said bounty hunter Dusty Steele.
Steele has spent countless hours looking for Ismael Reyna and Ashleigh Humphries. The two have been on the run since last summer. The bounty hunter is also searching for Alan Lugo, who has just been gone a few weeks. Charges against the three ranges from aggravated robbery to felony driving while intoxicated.
Steele talked about some of the aspects of his job. "Working on different leads… going from house to house… sitting on houses… waiting if we see anything."
With leads turning cold, the bail bonds company is posting information, including pictures, on craigslist. There is a link to reply with tips and the offer of a $500 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
Nance explained it simply. "They need to go to court and have their day."
If the wanted fugitives aren't found the bail bonds company has to forfeit the bond amount - in one case that meant handing over $25,000.
January 28, 2009
Man facing homicide trial arrested for bail jumping Northwestern Staff
An Oshkosh man who faces homicide charges in connection to a July 2007 crash that killed a woman was arrested for bail jumping after police found him in a tavern last week.
Jeffrey S. Wesner, 42, was charged in Winnebago County Circuit Court with felony bail jumping Monday. If convicted, he faces six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Wesner is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, causing injury by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, first-degree reckless homicide and recklessly causing injury in connection to a July 2007 crash on County Trunk A that killed Sally Pitts, 79, and injured her husband Carlton Pitts. Prosecutors said Wesner had high levels of prescription medication in his blood at the time of the head-on crash.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, officers from the Oshkosh Police Department were responding to a call at the Acee Deucee, 1329 Oregon St., on Jan. 22 when they found Wesner at the tavern. Wesner admitted to consuming alcohol and a preliminary breath test had a blood-alcohol test result of 0.146 percent.
Wesner is not supposed to consume alcohol as a condition of the bond imposed in the homicide case.
Winnebago County Court Commissioner Daniel Bissett ordered Wesner held on a $5,000 cash bond in the bail jumping case. Wesner is due back in court Feb. 2 for a preliminary hearing. A jury trial is scheduled to begin June 9 on the homicide case.
USA