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Family BusinessThursday, July 24 2008 |
Dog and the Chapman clan continue to hunt in Colorado. In addition to tracking down two felons on the run, Dog has to prepare for a fund raising trip to Mooseheart, a home for children in need. Can he catch his prey in time to be there for the kids?
and his wife Sherri
Today Dog and Beth and the rest of the family are hunting with fellow bailbondsman Chris Pollack. Chris is the son of Dog's old friend and mentor, Mary Ellen, who runs Mary Ellen Bail Bonds in Denver (fans may remember her from the season 1 show "A Family Feud") and has been in the bail bonds business since he was 15. Chris has a fugitive he's been looking for for over six months and hopes Dog can help. Dog is looking forward to the collaboration of "two families of professionals, the best in the business!"
The man they are looking for goes by several names--that alone is a red flag to the seasoned bounty hunters--but always uses the nickname "Polo"; a habit that undermines his use of aliases. Polo is wanted for "criminal impersonation" and has missed his court date. Chris saw Polo only a few days before, but Polo was in a crowd of friends. Though Chris considered attempting to capture him, his wife Sherri talked him into waiting, "Dog'll be here tomorrow, we'll get him to help."
Chris has a good address for Polo and an informant out looking for him. They suit up and head out to Polo's house. On the way, Dog and Chris discuss how his mom doesn't like him going out on busts, even though he has been on many. They also worry that Beth likes to rat him out to his mom, and their worries are justified. Beth calls Mary Ellen, who is furious, "He thinks he's gonna catch this guy but all he's gonna catch is a chewing from me! He does all this sneaking around and does all this without me knowing ... thinks he's a big boy."
"well he is 40 years old Mary," Beth remind her, but Mary Ellen wants to talk to her son. Beth puts her through the radios so everyone can hear Mom chewing her son out. Mary Ellen chews Dog out too for "taking her baby out hunting." Beth suggests that if she's really worried, she should come along. "Oh, I'll be doing just that," Mary Ellen shoots back. They get Chris to call his mom to give her the address.
On the way his informant calls to say he's just seen Polo at a local liquor store where he possibly did a drug deal in the parking lot and walked home. They first meet up with Mary Ellen and her husband Fred. And decide to split up. Beth, Leland, and Baby Lyssa head to the liquor store to question the clerk, but he is sure that Polo hasn't been in that day. Dog, Duane Lee and Mary Ellen's family head to Polo's house. "Other families get together and BBQ, we get together and bounty hunt," Dog explains with a grin.
There is a crowd outside near Polo's house and Dog has to reassure them he's not there after any of them. Several neighbors say they've seen him in there recently and Dog and the gang, now joined by Beth and her group, begin to search houses. Dog gets permission from his cousin to search Polo's apartment, though she assures him he's not there, he's left for Texas. They decide to search the basement for Polo, though they find it hard to search through the piles of clothes, trash and old junk.
Beth grills the cousin, who swears Polo is not there, but they soon find him on a bare mattress under piles of clothes and junk. He isn't reacting and he's so still that at first they think he's dead, but they decide he's just too drugged up to function. They manage to get him awake and cuffed and out to the cars. As they take him to jail, Beth muses that "Two bail bonded families, many generations of bail agents, just swarmed on that house. The defendant had no chance."
In the other car, Mary Ellen is celebrating the capture with her husband and daughter-in-law, "A perfect ending! If the Dog comes out, I guarantee you, you're going to jail."
Chris rides Polo's case about not showing up. Polo acts like he has no idea why he's in trouble. "Why didn't you call me?" he asks Chris. "Cuz all the numbers you gave me are disconnected," Chris retorts. Polo is very surprised to see Dog there. He doesn't think he is in that much trouble. But Dog explains that he always works with Chris when he's in town, "These are my people. I back them up. They're family."
As usual, as they talk to their fugitive, they begin to feel sorry for him and start to work with him. Dog and Chris agree not to press bail-jumping charges so that he can be bailed out again. They let him call his girlfriend (his cousin) so that she can arrange that.
Dog introduces Polo to the rest of the family and though he is handcuffed to Dog the scene starts to feel like an autograph session. Dog makes him apologize to Chris and his mom though, and Mary Ellen gives him a quick dressing down for jumping bail on her kid. "You shouldn't have made me bring in my band of angels to take care of that."
Lyssa likes the teamwork they've just seen, "One thing about two bail bond families coming together: you double the team, you're double as strong. We had a lot of back up. And Beth wasn't the only big mouth out there today. She definitely had help backing her up too. Mary Ellen's mouth -- Phew!"
Dog likes the team work too, "This is clean family fun at its finest!"
The work doesn't stop there, fellow bounty hunter Bobby Brown has a capture he wants help with and they meet back at the house to go over the case. The suspect is Alfredo Valdez , wanted for Distribution of a Controlled Substance (Cocaine). This case is more urgent than most, as Alfredo is wanted by the court for questioning. Plus, Dog and his family are due in Chicago the next day to do a fundraiser for Mooseheart Child City and School.
Alfredo lives with his girlfriend, Debbie, and Dog is sure she'll know right where he is. They suit up and head out again, with Dog giving Duane Lee a lot of flack about his driving, "Promise me you'll drive just like your father would expect you to."
"I promise to drive just like my father would."
That doesn't make Dog feel safe, "...would expect you to."
They head out, with Duane making a point to mess around with sudden stops and weaving. "How good a driver is Alfredo?" Bobby wonders.
Beth meanwhile is thinking about Alfredo's record. He has a long rap sheet, but only a few recent felonies. If they catch this guy, maybe he can be turned around before he is too far gone to save. They pound on his door while the neighbors watch. He isn't home though and their instinct is that he's gotten away. They search the area with no luck. Just as they are about to give up, his girlfriend, Debbie, gets home from work. She swears she doesn't know where he is, but Beth doesn't buy it, "Just like I know where my man is every moment of the day, you know where your old man is."
turning her boyfriend
Debbie allows them to search the house, but Alfredo isn't there and they settle in to wait and talk to Debbie about her situation with him. She tries to convince Debbie that it would be better for him and for her family if Alfredo would just turn himself in before he is even more trouble. Debbie admits that she is worried about her children and her job.
Both her son and daughter protest that they like Al and he's been good for their family. Dog and Bobby try to persuade them that, while he may be good to them, it's not good for him to put the family at risk like this. He needs to turn himself in.
The next day they learn that he has done just that. It's always a mix for Dog and the crew when the suspect turns themselves in. On one hand their job is done, the fugitive is no longer on the run. On the other hand, they have missed the satisfaction, adrenaline rush and closure that goes with a successful capture.
They're business in Denver done, the family heads out to Mooseheart Child City. Mooseheart provides a home for kids that have no parents. Dog gets on the radio to promote the charity, then heads out to Mooseheart to meet the kids (see video).
Dog is also the inspirational speaker for that night and in his talk he emphasizes that everyone deserves a second chance in life, no matter what mistakes they may have made. "No one is perfect, just keep trying."
