The California Department of Insurance is investigating three bounty hunters who worked illegally as “bail fugitive recovery persons”, making two arrests while one suspect remains at large.
The arrests come after a joint investigation by National City Police and the California Department of Insurance into their employer, Fugitive Warrants, owned by 48-year-old Jesse A. Wagner, who remains at large.
Daniel Johnathan Hawks, 43, and Annette Bianca Garcia, 36, were arrested this week on suspicion of kidnapping, burglary, false imprisonment, and other crimes, stemming from a June 10 incident, where they allegedly burglarized a home after arresting a National city resident, then unlawfully detaining their suspect's girlfriend and her father.
Both Hawks and Garcia pleaded not guilty in a Chula Vista courtroom to several felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the incident. Hawks faces nearly 20 years in state prison if convicted of all counts, while Garcia faces six years
All three defendants worked at Fugitive Warrants, which a Department of Insurance spokesman said is based out of San Marcos. According to the National City Police Department, the suspects were pursuing an armed woman.
According to the Department of Insurance, police responded during the ensuing investigation and determined that Wagner and his team had arrested a fugitive, then burglarized his home. The defendants then tracked down their suspect's girlfriend, who was not wanted for any crimes.
Wagner and his team allegedly made a traffic stop on the car, then took the girlfriend and her father back to her house, “falsely imprisoned them in an attempt to locate the fugitive's firearms.”The Department of Investigation notes that the investigation is ongoing “into the hiring of the unpermitted bail fugitive recovery agents by the licensed bail agent.''
Wagner faces many of the same charges, as well as a count of exhibiting a taser towards one of the victims, possessing body armor while being a felon, and acting as a bail bondsman while having a prior felony conviction of a robbery in San Bernandino County in 2006.
