Authorities say they broke down the door at an Imperial home, holding an innocent couple at gunpoint. Now, three Missouri bail bondsmen are facing criminal charges.
Authorities say the men were looking for a fugitive. But somehow, they ended up at the wrong house.
It was a quiet night in April, when Garth Myers and his fiancée Melissa Bauman were awakened by a loud crash at their home.
Lt. Tommy Wright with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department says, “The couple was obviously very scared. They didn’t know what was going on. They report hearing a loud bang. They were immediately confronted by four men wielding handguns and a shotgun.”
But authorities say the armed intruders weren’t looking to rob their home. In fact, they weren’t looking for their home at all. Wright says, “Turns out some bondsmen were at the wrong house.”
They were bondsmen working for the AAA Bail Bonds Company. They were searching for someone who skipped bond, but apparently searching in the wrong place.
Now prosecutors have charged Steven Morgan, Thaddeus Bibb and Randall Avett. They’re facing counts of burglary, armed criminal action, felonious restraint, and property damage.
Lt. Wright says, “They had no legal right to enter that residence. They had no more right than you or I did to enter that residence. That’s why they were charged with what they were charged.”
It’s taken four months for charges to be filed. Morgan, Bibb and Avett all promptly posted bond courtesy of AAA Bail Bonds. The owner tells us he’s reserving judgment on his contract employees, until he knows all the facts.
Still authorities say bondsmen have to have legitimate grounds to enter a house. Lt. Wright says, “They’re held in the same standards as we are in the sense that they have to have the right information. They can’t just go around kicking in doors without doing the appropriate homework and knowing that the person they’re chasing is actually in there.”
In addition to the bondsmen, two other people are also facing charges in connection with the incident.
The victims in this case say they’ve filed a civil suit.
This was a bad judgement call on the part of the bondmens, but there was no criminal intent. I dont see why the prosecutors don’t leave it alone and let it be handled in the civil courts. It is a given they will pay civilly.
Comment by Gilbert Z — October 16, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
I have had my home broken into twice by bounty hunters. This, contrary to the 1st comment, is absolutely a crime committed with intent. In addition to all the charges filed by the police, this is an action specifically forbidden by our constitution. I cannot understand, how a person involved with law enforcement could possibly think he has rights that supercede the Constitution of the United States. Any person, police included, violating the foundation of the judicial system is a far more dangerous criminal than the person he chases.
And by the way, if you think this should carry no penalties, I would like to kick your door in, have four people with pistols drawn run through your house, pointing weapona at your wife and children ordering them to the ground, knocking over lamps and tv’s, and here you say, its ok fellas I can see there was no criminal intent, you were chasing a dangerous criminal, a 55 year old woman with a $1000 bond. For a lousy $1000. It makes perfect sense to start a gunfight over $1000. Sounds like a much more dangerous criminal, apparently dumber than a stick, deserving of jail time.
Comment by rkindorf — April 1, 2008 @ 12:11 am
Gilbert,
Ask yourself why was it necessary for this pack of amateurs to perform a tactical entry vs. arranging an arrest that didn’t endanger the lives of all involved?
If the fugitive is dangerous enough to warrant a
no-knock entry, why weren’t the police called?
Why weren’t basic surveilance measures employed
to confirm the intelligence that placed the fugitive in this particular home?
What if Mr. Myers had met the invasion with an
appropriate response, blasting a portion of the
invaders back out the door with a shotgun?
With the number of invaders involved, it could
have been a tradgedy with more than just the thugs
getting killed.
The courts need to lock these guys up long enough
for the dumb to wear off, before they kill someone
and destroy the industry in the process.
Comment by Pseudo F. Jones — April 1, 2008 @ 1:01 am
With the increasing number of bounty hunters taking over law emforcement, why have police at all? With the disregard for any rights or safety of the public, we may as well resurrect the Old West vigilante justice and save the taxpayers money on the police forces.
Many times you can’t tell who’s the “law enforcement” and who’s the criminal anyway.
Comment by Celia — April 26, 2008 @ 6:11 am