Let the Dog Out!

Dog the Bounty Hunter was arrested and jailed recently on charges related to his capture of Andrew Luster in Mexico.  Here's a couple of paragraphs from a long-term project:

Andrew Luster had it all, a multi-million dollar trust fund, good looks, and a bachelor pad just off the beach in Mussel Shoals, California. Luster, the great-grandson of cosmetics legend Max Factor, spent his days surfing and cruising the clubs. His life would have been unremarkable if sad had he not had a fetish for sex with the unconscious. When the first woman alleged rape, Luster claimed mutual consent but the videotapes that the police discovered when they searched his home told a different story. Eventually more than ten women came forward and Luster was convicted of twenty counts of rape and sentenced to 124 years in prison. There was only one problem. Luster could not be found.

Shortly before he was expected to take the stand, Luster withdrew funds from his stock accounts, arranged for his dog to be taken care of and skipped town on a one million dollar bail bond. The FBI put Luster on their Most Wanted list but months passed with no results. In the end, the authorities never found him.  But Luster but he was brought to justice - by a dog. Duane Chapman, now known by the title of his television show, Dog: The Bounty Hunter, had been tracking Luster for months. He picked up clues to his whereabouts from old phone bills and from Luster’s mother who inadvertently revealed that Luster spoke fluent Spanish. Finally, a tip from someone who had seen Dog on television brought Dog to a small town in Mexico with great surfing. Days later Dog spotted Luster at a taco stand and made the arrest.

Unfortunately for Dog, bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico and the US authorities, who in my opinion are embarrassed by their failure to capture Luster, haven't tried to intervene with the Mexican government to let the charges drop in the interests of justice.

For more on the effectiveness of bounty hunters versus the police see my paper.