Bondsman Robbed at Gunpoint

A bail bond business was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday by two suspects who escaped capture, police said.

Two suspects entered the business in the 300 block of Texas Street, confronted the lone employee and two customers inside and ordered them to the ground, police said.

One suspect, armed with a silver semi-automatic firearm, demanded cash, police said. But when told there was no cash in the store, the suspects ordered the victims to hand over their personal cash, which they did, police said.

The suspects then ordered the employee to open the safe in the back of the store. When the employee told them he didn't know the combination, both suspects fled on foot eastbound, police said.

Officers responded and cordoned off the area between the railroad tracks and Taft Street. The suspects were spotted on the railroad right-of-way fleeing north, before they disappeared into a residential area, police said.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter responded before being called away on another emergency, police said.

Officers were unable to locate the suspects, though some good leads were developed during the incident, police said.

One suspect is described as a black male, 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a thin build, wearing a ski mask or something similar, a black hooded sweatshirt and gray shorts. The other is a black male 6 feet, 3 inches tall, medium build wearing black pants and black hooded sweatshirt. He was wearing a bandanna with eye cutouts or a ski mask, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fairfield Police or CrimeStoppers.

Bail Bond Business Bucks City Ordinance

Brandon will hold a public hearing next week to discuss a bail bonding company's attempt to move into a vacant downtown Brandon building.

New bail bonding businesses, along with tattoo parlors, check cashing businesses and others are forbidden by a city ordinance passed earlier this year.

City officials say the ordinance is designed to reinvent the area as an arts and antique district.

"I've always felt like we needed downtown to be a special area," alderwoman Yvonne Bianchi said. "In my opinion, there are enough bail bondsmen."

George Sandifer, owner of American National Bail Bonding Agency in Pearl, said he was denied a license, even though he applied for it the day before the ordinance took effect.

Sandifer spoke to the Brandon Board of Aldermen in April, but the business has been in limbo ever since.

"This thing was planned ahead of time, and it was planned to adhere to the historical society (exterior regulations)," he said. "I just feel like we should be allowed to proceed."

Sandifer said he doesn't feel that the spirit of the ordinance matches up with the reality of his business.

"We're not a fly-by-night outfit," he said. "Our offices are on the line of an attorney's office."

Sandifer said he thinks people may have an unfair stigma attached to their perception of the business.

(We're not) "like Dog the Bounty Hunter," Sandifer said of the A&E television personality. "I don't think that represents our line of work. We have a dress code. We're business people."

Sandifer said the business, which would be named American National Surety, would not feature a lighted sign or be open at night.

Bianchi said she's open to discussion about how the business may be different from others but said it will be a hard sell.

"They can call it whatever they wish, but it's still a bail bondsman," she said. "They're going to have to convince me that this is not going to take away from the concept that we have."

Alderman Tim Coulter, who has organized a downtown revitalization committee and is a supporter of the downtown ordinance, said he'd like to see a different business occupy the now-vacant building.

But Sandifer believes such an approach ignores one of the key features of Brandon's downtown: the Rankin County Jail and courthouse.

"Anywhere in the country, you're going to see these type of businesses near the court or the jail," he said.

Dodge Bail Bonds

With his slicked-back gray hair and pastel suits, George Dodge looks more like Ben Matlock than Dog the Bounty Hunter, the muscled and tattooed bail bondsman-turned-reality TV star."That’s all movie stuff," Dodge said of the Honolulu-based show on A&E.

"It’s great for show, but it wouldn’t fare too well in the state of Missouri."

Dodge, who describes himself as "old school," operates differently than many people in the area bail bonding industry.

He doesn’t allow his agents to carry guns or Tasers, citing safety concerns. He said that’s one of the main reasons he has only gotten into two fights while collecting bounties in the past 26 years.

And Dodge is picky when it comes to selecting the clients and bonds he insures. He estimates his agents turn down three out of every five bonds that are requested.

"I’m old. I’m fat. I’m primed for a heart attack," Dodge said. "I don’t need all the adrenaline."

Dodge, who said he stopped hiring ex-convicts and snitches years ago, has a peculiar prerequisite when hiring new employees.

"I like to hire someone that’s a little greedy," he said. "Greed is going to make them kick their feet out at 2, 3 o’clock in the morning and write them bonds. A little greed kind of helps."

Dodge’s rules have served him well.

At 68, he is the oldest continually active bail bondsman in Boone County, having operated Dodge Bail Bonds since 1982. He now works out of his northeast Columbia home, taking calls on his cell phone at all hours of the night and sending his bonding agents all over Mid-Missouri.

At its height just three years ago, Dodge Bail Bonds employed 76 agents across the state, working in all of Missouri’s 114 counties. Now, Dodge said he has cut back. His son, Monty Dodge, moved to Rogers, Ark., and Dodge said he’s content to run a one-man operation, only taking the bonds and clients he wants. Now, Dodge Bail Bonds has some 20 agents who work Mid-Missouri. There are four agents, including Dodge, who work in Boone County.

But what Dodge - a former building contractor and Randolph County sheriff’s deputy - is maybe best known for among police, prosecutors, judges and suspected criminals he works with is being a straight shooter.

"I had a guy I arrested one time tell me that ‘They can take your money, take your life, but they can’t take your word away,’ " Dodge said. "That sort of stuck with me."

Dodge was born and raised in Moberly and attended Kirksville State Teachers College, now Truman State University, in the 1950s. A social science major, Dodge dropped out after his junior year when he realized a humanities degree wouldn’t "quite meet my expectations salary wise."

He then worked 15-plus years as a building contractor - before the housing market went south in the 1970s - followed by a nine-year stint as a sheriff’s deputy in Randolph County.

"Hell, I wasn’t doing much of anything except piddling with selling a house here and there," Dodge said. "And then I run into" former Sheriff Orville Price "and asked him if he needed to someone to work, and he said sure."

Dodge retired as a nighttime captain in 1982 at the insistence of his wife of 49 years, Ilene.

Once he left the sheriff’s department, his former co-workers poked fun at Dodge’s new line of work, he said. At the time, Dodge was one of only three general bail bondsmen in Boone County.

But his new job, he would tell his ex-colleagues, had its benefits. " ‘You boys get up at 2 o’clock, chase down a guy who wants to fight you. His girlfriend bites you, his parents cuss you out, his dog growls at you, and you don’t get paid a damn cent more for that because you work by the hour,’ " he said he told them. " ‘I get up at 2 o’clock and bail the old boy out, and he loves you. His girl hugs you, his parents shake your hand, his dog wags his tail at you, and I get paid extra.’ "

Dodge Bail Bonds has been a family affair - his two adult sons, 48-year-old Marty and 49-year-old Monty, and his wife all have worked as bonding agents for him at one time or another.

But Marty, who has his own excavation company in Hatton, wasn’t really "cut out" for the family business, Dodge said, and Monty recently moved with his wife and kids to Arkansas.

So in recent years, Dodge has branched out from the bail bonding business. He owns a title loan business with four locations in Mid-Missouri and several pasture farms in Callaway, Chariton, Cooper and Randolph counties.

For a short time, Dodge also was a newspaper publisher as part owner of the North County News-Leader, a weekly newspaper that serviced Centralia and northern Boone County.

It was a lofty venture, and Dodge admits he "didn’t know a thing about newspapers." The paper’s office closed in April 2002 - about two months shy of its one-year anniversary. The failed venture was just another testament to where Dodge’s strengths lie.

"It’s not all peaches and cream, like sheriffing, but some people are cut out for bonding, and I guess I’m one of them," he said.

Dodge is one of 139 active general bail bond agents in Missouri who oversee the state’s 858 active bonding agents, said Emily Kampeter, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Insurance.

Industry experts say agents are an odd mixture of career criminals and former law enforcement officers. In recent years, Dodge said, the bail bonding business has become increasingly competitive with agents "looking to make a quick buck."

The growth has created some substantial problems, especially for state regulators. Bail bonding agent applicants who have been convicted of a felony within the past 15 years are barred from receiving a license but, in years past, the state Department of Insurance has had some discretion in granting licenses to ex-convicts.

A change in state law in 2006 requires bail bond agents to submit fingerprints on all applications and renewals. State officials have tried unsuccessfully to regulate the bail bonding industry even further - including a failed attempt in the General Assembly last year to require all bail bonding agents to report a felony arrest within 10 days, Kampeter said.

"It’s not the intent of this administration to allow discretion regarding felony arrests," she said.

Jack Hastings, a 39-year-old former Ashland and Boonville police officer, works full time as the head of security at Stephens College and moonlights as a bail bondsman for Dodge. He said the bail bonding industry - including Boone County’s 28 active bail-bonding agencies - is rife with problems.

"When I interviewed, George came across as a really good guy who did everything by the book, which is different than what I’ve seen," said Hastings, who has worked with Dodge Bail Bonds for about 2½ years.

Hastings, who worked as a police officer for 13 years before becoming a bondsman, said he quickly learned one of the vital tricks of the trade from Dodge - a good bond is all about the co-signer.

"A good co-signer is someone who is either going to pay that bond if that person runs out or help us find him," Hastings said.

"One of the first questions I ask is, ‘Where do you work?’ If it’s a mother who says she’s worked at University Hospital for 10, 15 years, I think it’ll work. But if it’s a girlfriend who wants to get her boyfriend out of jail, and she works at Wendy’s - well, you and I both know she’s not going to be able to pay that bond."

Hastings, who said a good part-time agent can make upwards of $20,000 per year, said he goes to painstaking lengths to vet his bonds and, as an insurance policy against clients who fail to show up in court, takes 10 percent of his earnings and puts it in an escrow account for a rainy day.

Dodge, Hastings and other agents said they’ve built up their client base largely through word-of-mouth.

Rodney Kemp, the 37-year-old owner of MO Music Records, said Dodge is a helpful, friendly and, most importantly, honest bail bondsman.

"It ain’t just about the money with him," said Kemp, who has previous drug and assault convictions dating back to the early 1990s. "He’ll try to help you. Back in the day, I got into trouble, and I didn’t have a lot of people to show how to do things better, but George did."

But trust is a hard commodity among bonding agents these days, Dodge said. In light of a record-breaking $750,000 bond posted for murder suspect Kristopher Prince in September, the 13th Judicial Circuit, which includes Boone and Callaway counties, overhauled its bonding rules in January.

Under the new rules, the court performs a more thorough check on whether a bail bonding agency working on an inmate’s behalf has enough assets to post a surety bond. The circuit clerk’s office also requires administrators to be contacted if a bond of more than $250,000 is posted, and those bonds can only be posted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The bond for Prince, who is in custody at the Boone County Jail on charges of second-degree murder and three weapons offenses, was posted on a Sunday. Prince is accused of killing 17-year-old Teddarian Robinson in April.

As a result, Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight has called for more cash-only bonds for criminal suspects arrested in connection with violent crimes. That has some bonding agents, such as Dodge and Hastings, worried.

"Things aren’t like they used to be," Dodge said. "It used to be a better business, but you’re not always going to make a ton of money."

Cleveland Bail Bond Agency Helps Break Prison's Revolving Door

When a person is arrested, it can be a time of extreme stress and confusion. It is important to have the information to make critical decisions along the way, including the decision to hire a bondsman.

At Quick ‘n Easy Friendly Honest Bail Bonds, their experienced, knowledgeable staff is ready to assist you with your decision, every step of the way.

Many of the defendants who post bond out are in and out of the justice system. At Quick ‘n Easy Friendly Honest Bail Bonds, they strongly believe that a lack of jobs contributes to the situation.

“We prefer not to have repeat customers,” Phil Pavarini, Jr., owner of Quick ‘n Easy Friendly Honest Bail Bonds said. “Most of our clients are, in their hearts, good people who have made some bad choices. At our agency, I try to give them the tools they need to make a better life for themselves.”

The first step in the right direction, Pavarini said, begins shortly after one of his licensed bondsmen arranges for you or your loved one’s release. To help people break the cycle, and because it is important to show the courts the person arrested is making an attempt toward a productive life, Quick ‘n Easy Friendly Honest Bail Bonds provides referrals to vocational training and job placement assistance.

Bounty Hunters Need Training

It's time for the Washington Legislature to revisit the issue of bounty hunters to ensure that they are properly trained.

The Legislature took a positive step in 2004 when the House and Senate unanimously passed House Bill 2313 to set minimal expectations for the bail bondsmen industry.

It's a tough job.

When a person is booked into jail, the defendant generally turns to a bail bond agency to post a bond to guarantee that the defendant will appear for future court dates. A friend or relative of the defendant usually pays a premium, generally 10 percent of the bond amount, for this service, as well as providing collateral such as a lien on a home. If the defendant does not show up as scheduled for court, the defendant is considered a fugitive from justice and the bail bond company is liable to pay the entire amount of the bond. A grace period is generally granted so the employees of the bonding agency — so-called bounty hunters — can try to track down the defendant and get that person back before a judge.

It's dangerous work because bounty hunters are searching for fugitives who don't want to go back to jail.

In the 2004 legislation, lawmakers established a system of mandatory licensing for bounty hunters. The law requires prior notice to local law enforcement agencies including identifying clothing information when bail bond recovery agents make a planned forced entry to apprehend a fugitive.

The Legislature said bounty hunters must be at least 21 years of age and cannot have been convicted of a crime in the past 10 years. Bounty hunters must have 12 hours of training.

And with that minimal training, Washington's bounty hunters are using firearms, handcuffs, batons and stun guns to apprehend bail jumpers and bring them back to justice. Their training pales in comparison with that of law enforcement officers who use similar tools to apprehend criminals.

The state's oversight once a bounty hunter gets a license is minimal, and that's why legislative remedies are warranted.

For one thing, Sherri Lonsbery, manager of the state's bail bond licensing program, said the standards for what's an offense of a bail bond company are unclear. "We don't regulate bad behavior," Lonsbery said. "We don't regulate their actions once they're licensed, necessarily. If they break down the door to the wrong house, (state law) doesn't say they are responsible to replace that door."

Washington requires bounty hunters to receive training, but doesn't specify what most of it should entail or establish a certification process for trainers. And the state doesn't endorse trainers who teach bounty hunter skills.

Most other states that have licensing requirements, such as Virginia, also regulate the trainers of aspiring bounty hunters, said Mel Barth, executive director of the National Association of Bail Enforcement Agents.

Barth said he was surprised that Washington doesn't do so. "That's a little crazy, to be honest with you," he said. "I don't approve of that."

Prior to 2004, anyone could call themselves a bounty hunter and go after fugitives. The legislation that was passed that year helped bring bounty hunters under state control. It was only a start. It's time for the Legislature to set standards of acceptable behavior for bonding companies and to put licensing requirements for trainers in place.