GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Duane "Dog" Chapman, Beth Smith and their children, Garry, 2, and Bonnie Jo, 4, went through Honolulu Airport's interisland terminal last night upon his return from Los Angeles.
Mexico let ‘Dog’ out
-- now he’s homeThe bounty hunter returns
with charges he illegally detained
a fugitive left unresolved
The Hawaii-based bounty hunter who gained worldwide attention when he captured a fugitive rapist in Mexico but got arrested in the process came home last night.
Duane "Dog" Chapman arrived at Honolulu Airport with a small entourage and a big smile for his children.
"We feel great, fantastic. Thank you, Hawaii," Chapman said.
But the hunter has become the hunted.
Mexican immigration authorities issued an alert Tuesday for Chapman and two relatives who failed to show up for a court date on charges they illegally detained fugitive rapist Andrew Luster there in June.
Chapman tracked down and captured Luster, a Max Factor cosmetics heir, two weeks ago as he walked out of a Mexican resort nightclub.
Luster had been on the run for six months after he was charged with 86 counts accusing him of drugging women with the date-rape drug gamma hydroxybutyrate and then videotaping them as he raped them in his bedroom.
Luster, 39, disappeared during his trial in Ventura County, Calif., and was convicted in absentia to serve a 124-year prison sentence.
Chapman's victory turned sour quickly after neighbors called Mexican police about street fighting during Luster's capture, and the bounty hunter was arrested along with two other Americans with him. Under Mexican law, bounty hunting is considered a form of kidnapping.
Last night in Honolulu, Chapman said he did everything by the book, including having a Mexican police officer with them when he found Luster.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Among those greeting bounty hunter Duane Chapman at Honolulu Airport when he arrived from Los Angeles last night was his daughter Bonnie Jo.
"We did it right," he said. "We knew all the laws. We knew we had to have someone from their country with us. We paid the guy to go with us."
But he said that at the last minute, the officer allegedly wanted more money, and "he tried to extort us."
"But luckily, we had recorders on us and we caught him on tape," Chapman said.
"We knew we'd catch him, but you know, we didn't think we'd get thrown into jail for two weeks and go through this."
The Mexican immigration alert requests agents at Mexican airports and border crossings to be on the lookout for Chapman, his son Leland and his brother Timothy, all of whom flew to California last week shortly after they were released from jail in Puerto Vallarta.
If they enter Mexico, local immigration director Jose Luis Gutierrez said they would be detained and taken to appear before the Puerto Vallarta judge who had granted them release on bail on the condition they show up every Monday to check in with the court.
Judge Jose de Jesus Pineda ordered Chapman and the other two men arrested with him to stand trial on charges of criminal association and deprivation of liberty for the seizure of Luster. All three men flew to California after they were released from jail in Puerto Vallarta; however, Pineda said Chapman failed to show up for a court hearing scheduled last Monday.
Beth Smith, Chapman's longtime companion who arrived home last night with him, disputed press reports that Chapman snubbed the Mexican court.
"Dog will not just snub his nose at the Mexico authorities. We want to take care of this. We want to take our fine in lieu of jail, which is an option in Mexico. We'll pay whatever the penalty is ... but we still caught Andrew Luster," Smith said.
