Bounty hunters no-shows in Mexico
By Lorena Moguel
Associated Press
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Three bounty hunters arrested in Mexico for capturing fugitive rapist Andrew Luster failed to show up in court yesterday, a judge said.
Associated Press
Speaking in this Pacific coast resort, Judge Jose de Jesus Pineda said he would give the three until today to explain their absence, then begin proceedings to forfeit their bail.
Duane Chapman was in a Ventura, Calif., courthouse yesterday seeking a portion of bail forfeited by Andrew Luster and missed a court appearance in Mexico.
Duane "Dog" Chapman, who tracked down the cosmetics heir, said in a phone interview from Los Angeles that his understanding was that Pineda had not required him to return to Mexico.
The Hawai'i-based bounty hunter — who worked with his son Leland and brother Timothy — said his attorneys told him they would meet with immigration officials yesterday and that he expected to be in touch with the attorneys soon.
"If every lawyer in America tells you, 'Don't go down there again, Dog,' what would you do?" said Chapman. He also said he believed he could be the victim of reprisals whose nature he would not specify if he returned to Mexico.
But Chapman said he would like to help Mexican authorities learn better law enforcement techniques, including improved methods of searching and cuffing suspects.
"I would like to help them with some of my skills," he said. "I already stepped up once," he said. "I got the guy." Migration officials were not immediately available to comment on the case.
Chapman spent yesterday in a Ventura, Calif., courtroom seeking a portion of the $1 million bail forfeited by Luster when he jumped bail in January. "We would like 15 percent for the capture and expenses that we spent," Luster told KABC-TV Los Angeles outside the courthouse.
Judge Edward Brodie decided not to release any of the bail money. He ordered all the parties to bring additional evidence to another hearing set for Aug. 5.
