Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Fugitive's Family: Bounty Hunter Made Threats

Threatening and frightening people is certainly not funny and it certainly isn't some kind of game. I think it's appalling that "Dog" can be allowed to do things to people that would be considered criminal if it was the other way around.

Family of the fugitive whom Duane “Dog” Chapman is chasing on the Front Range say the famous bounty hunter has repeatedly threatened them during the course of his investigation.

Chapman, however, said he and his posse, featured on the A&E television show “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” have done nothing out of the ordinary.

Tony Padilla, father of Mesa County fugitive Marco Padilla, said Chapman and his crew over the past two weeks have shown up at his Aurora home and threatened him.

“I don’t know what to do,” Padilla said. “I swear to God. This is scary.”

Tony Padilla said Chapman and company threatened him, swore at him and demanded as recently as Monday night that he say where Marco is staying.

“I don’t know where he’s staying,” Padilla said. “I don’t know his phone number. Marco has changed his number.”

Marco Padilla, 32, is wanted on a $150,000 failure-to-appear warrant after he failed to show up for sentencing in a 2007 drug case in Mesa County.

Chapman and his crew, according to a police report filed Tuesday, also have harassed Elizabeth Padilla, Marco’s sister in Aurora. Padilla, according to the report, allowed Chapman, his wife, Beth, and his crew to search her home in August. Their interactions took a turn for the worse, the report said, when Chapman and his wife tailed her Sept. 10 after she left a Wal-Mart.

“When she got out of the vehicle, (Padilla) stated that Beth Chapman approached her and stated, ‘You don’t want to (expletive) with me, you stupid (expletive,)’ ” the report said. “Elizabeth stated that there were cameras all around and that Beth said she would edit the tapes.”

Chapman said people complaining about bounty hunters’ tactics is “part of the game in this good guy versus bad guy (situation).”


Grand Junction Sentinel

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, just read your little rant about dog. It's people like you that make me sick. Instead of worrying about if there ever going to catch this scum you take sides with Marco's drug addicted father. These people are trash, there like that annoying piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe that needs to be scraped off and thrown in the trash. Of course these people are going to play the victim, there drug addicts and its always somone elses fault for whats going on with them. I hope Dog catches this Basterd and puts him away, and for people like you that defend trash like this I hope that one day you will be affected by someone like Marco so you will be able to see the importance of someone like Dog.

Anonymous said...

Just because Marco Padilla (and his family) are the "bad guys" here, that does not mean that Dog and his crew can do just what they want. They do act in an unacceptable way sometimes, which makes me wonder if that is really legal. E.g. in one of these Marco P. episodes, Dog himself walked up to a man on a parking lot and took his phone and started going through info on it. I can't imagine that a bounty hunter has the right to do so without a warrant. In this case the guy was calling to warn people that Dog had arrived, but even then it does not ring right, this guy was not a suspect and Dog is not a Police Officer. I do respect Dog and his family, but very often, when they are doing an arrest, their foul mouths are disgusting! The way they call the fugitive and sometimes others "motherfuckers" and such gloses, sure does not help in gaining respect for them. Plus, it really isn't a way for religious people like them to act. They could chose their words better, even in a heated moment! Even if people has done something wrong (parking tickets, child support or other offenses), they do deserve to be treated with respect, and Dog and his crew talk over and over again about how they care about people etc. The way they act in some situations does not really speak volumes about caring and love for these people and they sure could do better! They are in a situation where they are role models for a lot of people and they shouldn't act like that! They don't have more of a right to act like that than the fugitives (or any other person)! It's just not right! They'll get a lot longer with people if they treat them respectfully all the way and act like the good role models they want to be!

I think they put the pressure on the old man too much in the Padilla episodes. Sure, the old man may have his troubles and he may be doing the wrong thing, but they shouldn't pressure a father to do things to his son which may cause the son to not forgive his dad. That is just not right or fair to the one who isn't a fugitive... That he had narcotics in his flat though, is something Dog maybe should have called the Police about and let them investigate to figure out if there was a reason to take Tony (or somebody else) to court...