Bondsman's car stolen; suspect calls for bail

Inside Bay Area - Bondsman's car stolen; suspect calls for bail: "The moral of the story is: When you steal your bail bondsman's car, don't call him and ask to be bailed out when you're caught. At least, one bail bondsman doesn't recommend it.

John Yonan, owner of Minuteman Bail Bonds in Tracy, walked out of his home last year and discovered his fire engine red Mitsubishi Eclipse sports car was gone.

The car was recovered later the same day in Oakdale, and Yonan drove to pick it up from a car dealer the next day. He found damage: dents, scratches, bald tires, and the engine eventually needed to be replaced twice. Yonan found a letter the thief had written. It was a list to his mother of what to do with his belongings when he went to jail.

He gave it to police — it served as 'a road map to the thief' — and they arrested a suspect, Yonan said.

The next day, Yonan answered the phone at his bail bonds business and the man on the other end asked for money to be posted so he can be released from jail.

'The guy starts describing how much his bail is and what his charges are,' Yonan said. 'He said 'Grand theft auto,' and I said, 'Was that a red car?' He said 'Yeah,' then I asked, 'Was it a Mitsubishi Eclipse?' He said 'How did you know that?' I told him 'You stole my car.''"