This one here was one of my more entertaining ones. This girl skipped court for whatever reason and pretty much vanished. I eventually hunt down a lead that takes me to a VERY expensive set of condos by clearwater beach. I have intel. that says she is staying with a much older man. Another agent and I show up at his door and knock. He refuses to answer the door. We call local police and they come out and also knock on his door and again he will not answer.

They begin pounding very loudly and eventually have a dispatcher call his home numerous times to tell him to answer the door. He ignores all calls and everyone asking him to open the door. I then proceed to get a sledgehammer and begin hitting his door. I softly but firmly hit his door 3 times and tell him that was his last warning and the door is coming down. I then hear the lock and he finally opens the door.

The target is inside, lying on his bed. Turns out he’s supposedly a former police officer. After we cuff and stuff the target, the male in the condo is also arrested for obstruction for ignoring the police and knowingly hiding a wanted felon inside his condo. Total bond recovered was $5,000.

Ok.. this one here will stick with me probably forever. Not because of the defendent but because of the person that helped me with this one.  The basic story is the guy skipped and left his buddy out to dry.

His buddy who has 5 kids put up his own van for him. His friend was really stressing out because we actually took his van and put a FOR SALE signs on it. As bad as we felt, it is a buisness and you have to be able to seperate personal feelings and business.

I really put alot of effort into finding this guy. I didn’t want his friend to lose his van, especially having kids. Eventually, I contact a pastor who says this guy comes in to the church sometimes at night. I explain to the pastor his friend’s situation and the pastor agrees to set him up as long as I don’t arrest him inside the church because of all the kids around. I agree..no problem with that.

So I set up and eventually spot the target pull up in a car with 3 other guys. The target then walks in the church. Unfortunetly, I’m no longer comfortable with arresting him outside given the 3 guys with him and the fact I’m not convinced someone there doesn’t have a gun.

So I walk into the church , I see there is no one around AT ALL and I quickly arrest him and take him out. The only people who saw the arrest was me, the defendent and the pastor.. thats all!!

Later on the pastor calls me and actually starts SWEARING at me for arresting him inside the church. I explain to the pastor the possible danger that lurked outside and the fact no one was around. I also explained to the pastor that he just helped someone who has 5 kids get his only van back after trying to help a friend get out of jail. I would think he would feel good about that. The only bad guy here was the defendent who cared nothing for anyone who helped him out. The pastor dropped the f-bomb on me and said he was calling the cops. Later, I find out the pastor has a criminal past. Geez…. I understand turning your life around but he has not accomplished that yet… he’s a punk who somehow became a pastor.. very sad. Police explained to him that I did nothing wrong and told him to have a nice day. Total bond recovered was $7,500.

This gal here I guess thought she was facing some prison time so she skipped out on court. I didn’t really have much to go on because no one really wanted to help out. So I put some expert tricks of the trade together and get an address for her.

I set up down the road and begin watching the house. About 20 minutes later, I spot the target getting in her car with a small child. I call local police and try to give them my location so they can conduct a traffic stop on her and take her to jail.  Before they can get to us, she pulls into a day care center and walks in with the child. I hide behind a tree and wait for her to come out without the child. When she comes out she’s cuffed and stuffed and transported back to the county jail where she later received a one year sentence minus whatever time served. Total bond recovered was $25,350.

This capture here I thought would go worse than what it did. So as the story goes, the defendant skipped court and was hiding. So once again, I have the general neighborhood he hangs out in.

So I’m driving down in a pretty shitty area of south St. Petersburg and I spot the target walking up the steet with a friend. I figure they are probably going to the store on the corner so I drive up the road and park in the parking lot. Remind you, it’s about midnight in this area and LOTS of shady people are standing around.

So I jump out of my car and hide behind the passengers side door. I wait until the target comes around the corner and jump out screaming and yelling. Him and his buddy hit the ground so quick that the defendent allegedly broke his finger. He’s cuffed and stuffed and returned to the county jail.

Later on I rebonded him and he made all his court appearances the second time around and we’re all good now. Total bond recovered was $3,500.

Well this guy here gets the idiot of the year award. After he skipped court, the co-signer of his bond didn’t know exactly where he was, just where he hangs out at. So I go down to the hood where he’s supposedly roaming around. I drive up and down some streets and then I finally spot him standing along side the street. I pull up to him and he walks up to my window and asks me if I need any pot!! LOL.. what a moron..

If you see a cracker in a white impala driving through your hood, it’s probably not a good idea to try to sell him weed. So as the story goes.. I said “yes, I do need something”, I then step out of the car and cuff and stuff him. Total bond recovered was $2,500. It was a small bond, but I posted this due to his stupidity.

Ok.. this fella here skipped out on court cause he was apparently facing some prison time for a felony DUI and felony driving on suspended license. His father was really nice fella and had no idea where his son was. The only thing he knew was his son was somewhere in a hotel in south St. Petersburg. Ugghh… I hate when I hear that.

So I start driving around.. thats one part I really dislike. So after about 3 hours of driving around I spot a van that resembles his. I also notice its backed into a parking spot and the bumper is practically in some bushes which is a for sure sign someone is trying to hide their license plate from the police. So I run the tag on the van and sure enough, its his van.

I locate the room he’s in and knock. A female answers the door and I barge in. Unfortunetly.. I shouldn’t have gone by myself this time because the room was FULL of people. When you encounter a situation like this, it’s good to be a total asshole and scream and yell. It shows your not scared and you mean business.

All of the people are ordered to get down and they do, and the target is cuffed and stuffed. He’s returned to the county jail and later convicted of felony DUI and driving on a suspended license, and given a 5 year prison sentence. Total bond recovered was $20,750.

After this guy skipped out on court I went down to his grandmas’ house where he was staying at. I call local police due to the fact that the suspect had previously taken them for a high speed pursuit in which he allegedly ran 7 stop signs. So the local police bring the K-9 and about 6 deputies. I raid the house and the suspect isn’t there.

Later on, I find an address for where he might be staying. I call local police again and we pull up to the house. I notice a car in the driveway with both front doors open. I run up on the car and my suspect is sitting in the passenger’s side, smoking a blunt. At first, he doesn’t put his hands up on the dash. Just about to get tazed, he finally decides to listen. One of the deputies drags him out and cuffs him.

In the meanwhile, his brother comes out to see what all the yelling is about. He tried to go back inside when he saw the police, but it was too late. The police run his name and he comes back with felony warrrants. They are both taken to jail and the defendent later recieved a one year jail sentence for driving on suspended license (felony) and aggravated fleeing and eluding. Total bond recovered was $10,500

This was one of those that I had absolutely zero leads to start with. I met with her parents after she skipped court and they had no idea as to where she was and I believed them. So I do some digging and find out she has a cousin on house arrest down in the Treasure Island beach area.

So I go down there and start asking around and find out that she is somewhere in the area. For those of you not familiar with fisherman and fishing docks its definetly a rough and dangerous area. Fisherman do not like law enforcement of any kind. I recieved numerous death threats and once had three fisherman surround me.

I knew she liked drinking so I began spending the days at the local bars some of which were gay bars..ugghhh. So basically I just bar hop 12 hours a day for about 5 days and then finally I spot her  drunk as a skunk at one of the bars. I grab her, cuff her up and take her to my car. Upon searching her, I found one of the wanted flyers I had been passing out in her back pocket. I kept it as a memento.

On a side note, as much fun as bar hopping for 12 hours a day seems, I could only drink half a beer every half hour - which wasn’t very fun. Total bond recovered was $7,500.

This one is straight from the twilight zone. After I find out he skipped court on me I went out to his house and set up. After a bit I spot him and call the local police to assist. They come out and inform me his house comes back as a “hot house”. That means there are numerous guns in the house.

So we knock and he comes out. He claims he missed court due to contagious worms under his skin and around his eyeballs!! He begins showing me weird cuts and nasty patches of dried blood and ooze. It was so nasty. Anyway, he said he could feel them crawling around his eyes and under his skin. He said if we touch him we will contract them. I’ve heard alot of excuses for skipping court but this one definetly takes the cake!!  I tell him he’s full of it and maybe a little crazy and I cuff him up.

On a side note.. I never contracted weird contagious worms that crawl around your eyeballs!!!! Total bond recovered was $5,500.

Ok this was offically the most diffulcult fugitive I’ve ever chased. This arrest occured on 04/27/08. I bonded the guy on a 6 count sale/possession of cocaine and marijuana. With his previous convictions of possession charges/firearm and resisting arrest with violence he was allegedly facing 40 months in the state prison.

So he runs and is very diffulcult to find in the neighborhoods I had to locate him in. Crackers like me cannot get in these hoods undetected. At one point I spotted him and chased him. As I attempted to jump an 8ft wall I dislocated my shoulder and he got away. Previous to this incident I raided about 5 other homes.

Finally I got an address for him through some expert bountyhunting tricks. So we surround the house, complete with K-9 and I knock. The female inside REFUSES to open the door. I proceed on kicking in the door. It’s heavily fortified. I then go to a window and begin pounding.. At that time I shatter the window. The suspect took a quick chance to run, then spotted the K-9 and realized this time there was no way out.

With children inside, windows being broken,doors being kicked in.. He finally opens the front door and surrenders. Total bond recovered was $15,750.