A 49-year-old man on the run from California authorities for kidnapping and stealing from the people he arrested while operating illegally as a bounty hunter is accused of committing similar crimes in metro Denver last year.
Bounty hunters play a unique role operating between law enforcement personnel and normal citizen. They are given a share of the legal power and access to information and equipment awarded to members of professionally trained police forces. Certifications for the position vary between states. Some states require dress codes and training on arrest tactics. Others only need an absence of a felony conviction , a signature, and a phone call to local authorities before that person can place handcuffs on another.
But this particular bounty hunter’s alleged actions, and the reported harm done to the people left in his wake, illuminate an apparent gap in the regulation of bounty hunters in both California and Colorado. And perhaps the rest of the country.
