(CNN) -- Duane "Dog" Chapman, the self-proclaimed world's most-famous
bounty hunter who achieved notoriety nabbing thousands of bail jumpers
was arrested Thursday for allegedly jumping bail in Mexico.
U.S.
marshals arrested the star of the A&E reality show "Dog the Bounty
Hunter" at his home in Hawaii at the request of the Mexican government.
Chapman
was wanted in connection with his highly publicized 2003 capture of Max
Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, who fled to Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico, after skipping out on a $1 million bail. (Watch how the bounty hunter landed in the doghouse -- 2:05)
Luster
was later convicted in-absentia on 86 charges involving drugging three
women with the date-rape drug, GHB, and raping them. Luster is serving a
124-year sentence. (Full story)
Chapman's
son, Leland, also was arrested Thursday, as was colleague Tim Chapman,
who is unrelated but considered a "blood brother" by Dog, according to
the reality show's Web site.
Marshals knocked on the door of
Chapman's home just after 6 a.m., and they entered the home after the
unlatched door came open, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Jay Bieber.
Chapman was cooperative, Bieber said. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of a government vehicle.
Chapman's wife, Beth, told MSNBC her husband was being held in a federal detention center in Honolulu.
The
arrest warrant is under seal, and charges are expected to be announced
Friday when Chapman is scheduled to appear before a magistrate's court
in Honolulu.
Larry Butrick, chief of the criminal division of the
U.S. attorney's office in Hawaii, said Chapman was arrested by Mexican
authorities in June 2003 on charges of illegal detention and conspiracy.
The magistrate will determine whether Chapman can be extradited
to Mexico, and the final decision will be made by the U.S. secretary of
state, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Hawaii.
Mexican
police said that the three men subdued Luster outside a nightclub, put
him in an SUV and drove off June 18, 2003. Police stopped the vehicles
soon afterward and took the men into custody.
Chapman and his
crew were not authorized to track Luster and take him into custody in
Mexico, Mexican officials said at the time, adding that bounty hunting
is illegal in Mexico.
Judge Jose de Jesus Pineda ordered the
three men to stand trial on charges of unlawful detention and
deprivation of freedom, charges which carry sentences of up to four
years in prison.
Pineda granted the men bail -- $1,500 each -- but
the three were supposed to check in regularly with police and get
Pineda's permission before traveling outside the Mexican state of
Jalisco, a prosecutor said.
The men did not, supervising
prosecutor Marco Roberto Suarez said in July 2003, threatening to have
the men arrested and returned to Mexico if they missed their scheduled
appearance before Pineda.
The following month, Superior Court
Judge Edward Brodie in Ventura County, California, ruled that Chapman
was not entitled to any of the $1 million in bail money forfeited by
Luster when he fled to Mexico. (Full story)
"I
cannot do vigilante justice," Brodie said. "In my view, you violated
state statutes and Mexican statutes. Therefore you are not entitled to
any restitution."
Chapman later said he was proud that he had captured Luster, but regretted doing it "in the wrong way."
"Dog
the Bounty Hunter," in which Chapman and his family chase down bail
jumpers and other fugitives, is one of A&E's most popular series. It
is in its third season.
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