Duane "Dog" Chapman looks for fugitive; films in town
By Tom Gantert
Legal News
The city of Jackson could end up featured in Dog the Bounty Hunter's latest TV reality show project.
Duane "Dog" Chapman, 59, is in Jackson trying to catch fugitive Ricky Wheeldon, who skipped town on a $500,000 bond. Wheeldon was convicted earlier this year of conducting a criminal enterprise after police in 2010 raided his home and seized truckloads of stolen goods and controlled substances. But on the final day of his trial, he fled.
While in town, Chapman and his crew showed up Oct. 10 at The Crazy Cowboy Restaurant. Bartender Samantha Martin said she first realized Chapman was coming to her restaurant when Beth Smith Chapman, Duane's wife, came up and asked if they could film for their TV show in the restaurant. Martin said she was asked to sign a release agreement.
Dog the Bounty Hunter was on A&E for eight seasons before it was canceled on May 21. In September, Chapman announced that the CMT has agreed to do a reality show with the bounty hunter and his wife. It is projected to air in spring/summer of 2013.
Martin said once word got out that Chapman and his crew were at the restaurant, more people started to show up.
"It was really crazy," Martin said. "I used to watch their TV show when it first started. It was kind of cool."
Chapman posed for some pictures with Martin.
But she said what she remembers most was they ordered Don Julio Margaritas, which is her favorite drink, too.
Angie Schirmacher has been watching the TV show, "Dog the Bounty Hunter" for six years. It was something her and her husband have done since they were both in college.
So when co-worker Amber Pritchard came into her office during lunch at the Jackson County clerk's office in downtown Jackson and said that Chapman was just a few blocks away, the deputy county clerks ran down to see him.
Schirmacher asked if they could get a picture with Chapman and his wife.
The couple obliged.
Then, the next day, Schirmacher got a chance to get more pictures when a supervisor told her that Chapman was back at Lodise Bail Bonds, located just a few blocks away from the Jackson County Clerk's office.
"They were very real people," Schirmacher said. "They were like you see on TV. They were just normal everyday people."
Schirmacher made one of the photos her Facebook timeline shot. Pritchard made a photo of herself with Chapman her Facebook profile shot.
Posed shots with Chapman are not easy to come by, as one of Pritchard's Facebook friends lamented. Many of Chapman's public appearances draw standing room only crowds.
One of her Facebook friends wrote about the time the friend stood in line for hours at Chapman's book signing at the Ann Arbor Borders hoping for the same picture. It didn't happen.
"It was neat to see him in person," Pritchard said.
Patti Clark, judicial secretary for Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson who signed the order to allow Chapman on the case, said Chapman and his wife draw a crowd while in town.
"When he is out and about, he is pretty recognizable," Clark said.
Clark said she also got a photo of herself with Chapman.
"I did," Clark said with a laugh. "They are both very nice and very pleasant."
She says she isn't a regular view of his show, "but when I'm flipping channels and it is on, I usually watch it."
Chapman has become a celebrity due to his show that featured his exploits as a bounty hunter with his wife. On his website, Chapman claims to have made more than 6,000 captures in his 27-year career.
Also on his website is a photograph of Ricky Wheeldon with the headline, "DOG'S MOST WANTED."
Published: Thu, Oct 18, 2012
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