Bail Bond Agent Blog

I used to work with a bondsman named Jake. Years later, he was out looking for a defendant that failed to show up in court. He had traced the guy to a two-story motel in a nearby town. He and his partner jumped in his truck to go get the defendant. His partner later told me what happened:
“We arrived early in the morning, around four thirty. We wanted to catch the guy while he was still sleeping, before he picked up and left. Since we knew which room he was in, we figured we’d go straight to his door, knock and pretend to be Housekeeping.
“We pulled into the parking lot in front of the motel and Jake recognized the defendant’s car. Obviously he was still there. It was one of these motels that have a balcony across the front, and you can see the doors from the parking lot. We could see his room number toward the center of the second floor. Up the stairs we went. There was a guy coming out of a nearby room, looked like he wanted to get an early start. But the rest of the place seemed dead.
“When we reached the defendant’s room, Jake knocked. He waited a moment then knocked again. No answer. Quietly he called out, ‘Housekeeping’ and knocked again. Then he knocked harder. Still no answer. I put my ear to the edge of the door, but I didn’t hear any sounds of stirring inside.
“While Jake kept knocking, I turned to look down at the parking lot. The defendant’s car was still there. He had to be here. Unless it wasn’t really his car.
“‘Are you sure that’s his car?’ I asked.
“‘Absolutely.
“‘Maybe he slept inside the car. Want me to take a look?
“‘I doubt it, but…’ As Jake turned around to look at the car, a guy walked out of the motel lobby carrying a cup of coffee. He headed across the parking lot.
“‘That’s him,” he whispered.
“Right then, the guy looked up and made eye contact with Jake. He threw the cup aside, splattering coffee all over the parking lot, and lunged for his car. Before I could make a move, Jake was up on the balcony rail.
“‘Are you nuts?’ I shouted, but before I got the words out, he was already airborne. He jumped straight out and landed smack on the hood of the guy’s car. Put a dent right in the middle of it…”
I remembered Jake well, so the idea of him jumping off a hotel balcony didn’t surprise me. He always wore these big old Harley boots, and I could only imagine what he did to the hood of the guy’s car.
It wasn’t enough to stop the defendant unfortunately.
“Jake was on the hood of the guy’s car, right in front of the windshield, but the guy threw the car into reverse and backed out. He braked hard and made a fast turn, and Jake went flying. He landed in the parking lot, right in the middle of the spilled coffee. The guy sped off.
“While Jake was furious the guy got away, at that moment he seemed more annoyed that he scuffed his boots.”
Every bondsman has a story about the one that got away. Sometimes you never find them, and sometimes you run across them by accident years later. In this case, Jake and his partner were lucky. They traced the guy to another motel. This time they arrived earlier, and while Jake’s partner went upstairs, Jake stayed down by the defendant’s car. The partner scuffled with the defendant and chased him down the stairs, and Jake jumped out and grabbed him.

Tags: Bail Bond Stories //