Celebrity bounty hunter weighs in on bail bondsmen raid

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - FOX 10 is following up on an incident where a group of bail bondsmen surrounded a Phoenix home late at night, it was the Phoenix Police Chief's home, and the bondsmen were looking for a wanted suspect they thought was inside.

It was a tip that turned out to be wrong, and they made a big mistake.

Now one of America's most famous bounty hunters is weighing in on the controversial botched take down.

His real name is Duane Chapman, and he's been in the bounty hunter business for three decades. He says the latest fiasco is proof that more regulations and training are needed nationwide.

Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman takes on fugitives on reality television.

Now he's weighing in on another bounty hunter in the headlines. Brent Farley was arrested after mistakenly targeting Chief Yahner's house in a botched raid.

"It's embaressing you know, because this is my line of work, so my initial reaction was oh my god, the police chief, they could have picked someone else," said Duane Chapman.

"We're going around the country training different bail companies, some of the top ones have 10-15 fugitives a week, on how to avoid this kind of stuff, how to check your lead, go to neighbors, knock on doors, have you seen this guy around, look at the area, the defendant himself, you study him," said Chapman.

Farley isn't even a registered bounty hunter, but in Arizona there is no penalty for not being registered.

To be approved you must be over 18 and pass a background check. Chapman believes there should be nationwide regulations and required training.

"There's a standard police officer training course that should be mandatory, and you should learn the rights of the prisoner," said Chapman.

And those weapons that Chapman uses are non-lethal, like pepper spray or bean bag guns. He doesn't think bounty hunters should carry real guns like Farley had the night of the raid.

"For us to be private sector using real guns is not cool, because I've proven you don't have to do that, this TV show is real," said Chapman.

Currently Farley faces two misdemeanor counts of trespassing and disorderly conduct.