Mark Antonio Johnson ran an illegal bounty hunter operation

Mark Antonio Johnson, 41, ran an illegal bounty hunter operation and went to extremes to look like he was a federal agent, including using a bogus uniform and bogus badge. Police said Johnson did use a real gun.
“He’s a scam artist,” said DeKalb police spokesperson Mekka Parrish. “He was posing as a federal agent and he was basically just going around scamming people.”
Police said Johnson operated the ultimate illegal bounty hunter business called FRET — or Fugitive Retrieval Enforcement Team. And he looked the part, authorities said.He had a uniform, a gun, a photo ID with an agent number, business cards listing himself as a unit commander and a badge with the FRET name on it.
The first problem with Johnson, police said, is that the business isn’t licensed. Police said the second problem is that Johnson is a convicted felon so he’s not allowed to have a weapon. Authorities said Johnson posed as a federal agent and may have made arrests.
“At this point, it is possible that he did arrest two people as a bounty hunter,” said Parrish.
Police said they became aware of Johnson after he obtained two real government license plates for his SUV. His vehicle had official-looking decals and a fake DOT number on the back. Officials said Johnson successfully posed as an officer at the tag office and convinced them.
“Even went so far as to put, ‘Call 911 in case of an emergency.’ So it certainly at one glance, you would think this would be a legitimate federal agent,” said Parrish.
Johnson faces a list of charges including felonies for impersonating an officer and conspiring to defraud the state.
“There are some other people he would scam to get their ID and make up fake documents,” said Parrish.
Johnson could also face charges for writing bad checks to his employees who may not have known the business was illegal.
His first court appearance will be Saturday. He is being held at the DeKalb County Jail.

Nathan Hingson Bail bond agent opened fire while trying to pull a woman from her pickup Friday

bail bond agent who opened fire while trying to pull a woman from her pickup Friday has a history of being disciplined by state regulators, and wasn't dressed to clearly identify himself as somebody who could make an arrest.Lake Stevens police said Saturday they are investigating Nathan Hingson, co-owner of Bail Bond by Nate of Lynnwood. He fired as many as eight rounds during a melee outside a Lake Stevens convenience store.No one apparently was injured during the mid-afternoon gunfire outside Norm's Market on Lundeen Parkway, Lake Stevens Police Chief Randy Celori said.Hingson on Friday said he was trying to detain a Lake Stevens woman, 25, whom he knew was wanted on multiple misdemeanor warrants.Hingson created a substantial risk when he opened fire, Celori said Saturday. There were children and several adults around the market and someone could have been badly injured.
According to the state Department of Licensing's Web site, Hingson's bail bonds license was suspended for eight years as of February 2007, with half the period suspended. The state alleged Hingson failed to keep adequate records, committed "material fraud" and failed to maintain a trust account.Hingson said Saturday he has a valid bail bond recovery license that authorizes him to make arrests and collect bounties. He said his other license was suspended because he and his wife were victims of a Las Vegas-based business that set them up. He agreed to a settlement that required forfeiture of his bail bond agent's license.Christine Anthony, a spokeswoman with the state ­Department of Licensing, said there are two types of bail bond licenses: one that authorizes people to run the business, another to act as a bounty hunter.The state will investigate Hingson's actions of Friday, standard procedure after firearms are used, Anthony said.On Friday, Hingson said he wasn't in Lake Stevens hunting the woman, but he happened to spot her. He said there was not time to call police.Celori said he's not convinced."For him working in Lynnwood and just happening upon the individual, I don't believe that's accurate," Celori said.Hingson was dressed in a white athletic outfit Friday, not in a uniform or clothing identifying him as a bail bond agent when he tried to make the arrest, the chief said.Celori said he's not surprised that the woman resisted arrest by someone dressed in civilian clothes and not carrying a police badge."People don't like to give up their freedom," he said.Taking a person into custody is one of the most high-risk police procedures, he said.Had police been contacted prior to the arrest attempt, Celori said the gunfire may have been avoided."If the individual would have coordinated with us, this situation wouldn't have happened," he said.While police do want to interview the woman about Friday's shooting, they aren't actively pursuing her."Her warrants don't necessitate the need for us to continue to look for her, but police want to talk to her," Celori said.Hingson said he didn't have time to call police before moving in to make the arrest. He said he's only required to wear a special uniform when making forced entry into a home, searching for a bail fugitive.On Friday, the gunfire erupted about 3 p.m. Hingson told police he noticed the woman's pickup truck and approached her to take her into custody.The woman tried to drive away. Hingson said he punched out the driver's window and tried to grab the keys. The bail bond agent said he began shooting when the woman allegedly dragged him a short distance in the parking lot with her truck, and then tried to run him over.The woman was able to drive off, ditch her pickup and escape. Police do not believe she was hurt. She remains at large.Hingson said he suffered cuts and bruises.According to the Bail Bond by Nate Web site, the business was started in April 2007 by Hingson's wife and a friend. On Friday, Hingson said he is a co-owner.Bail bond agents operate under strict licensing rules in Washington. They are required to take special firearms training and are permitted to use firearms under Washington law.Last month, bail bond agents fatally shot a man in Lakewood in Pierce County. They said the suspect tried to run them over. That incident remains under investigation.Celori said Lake Stevens police will investigate the status of Hingson's bail bond license.

Frank E. Novak charged with felony armed robbery after he allegedly walked into the convenience store with a BB gun and demanded cash.

Armed robbery of the Ricker’s convenience store at 105 W. McGalliard Road around 4:54 a.m. ended in the arrest of one suspect in the bushes nearby and two more in the area.Frank E. Novak, 19, 4700 N. Nebo Road, was preliminarily charged with felony armed robbery after he allegedly walked into the convenience store with a BB gun and demanded cash.Two accomplices, April N. Highley, 18, and Todd C. Cook, 19, both of 2604 N. Milton St., also were charged with armed robbery. All three remained in jail Monday with no bond.Police got a call before 5 a.m. Sunday that a white male wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and black bandana walked into the store, displayed a handgun and took all the money and safe.A suspect later identified as Cook was found hiding in the bushes, and Novak and Highley were found nearby.Police detective Melissa Pease reported that all three talked about robbing a convenience store and hid the money and gun at Cook’s house.Novak told police that he had been hurting for money when the three decided to commit robbery. Police recovered a backpack with money along with the sweatshirt and gun.

Charles Bonner and Anthony Hill are accused of shooting 20-year-old Robert Robinson in the head

Charles Bonner, 23, and Anthony Hill, 22, each face a charge of murder and being a persistent felony offender. They are accused of shooting 20-year-old Robert Robinson in the head on Aug. 30. He died the next day. Both Bonner and Hill have been in jail since September when they were arrested for a street robbery, which is still pending in court, said Lt. Barry Wilkerson, head of the Louisville Metro Police homicide unit. During that arrest, a gun of the same caliber as the one used in the Robinson shooting was found in the car the men were in, Wilkerson said. Police also received some tips that indicated that Bonner and Hill might have been involved in the Robinson shooting, prompting police to have ballistics testing done on the weapon, Wilkerson said. Test results, which came back recently, showed that the same gun was used to shoot Robinson, Wilkerson said. Bonner is believed to have been the shooter in the incident, Wilkerson said

David Kucia took a loaded Glock up to communion at a South Side church Sunday morning, apparently for protection, was arrested

David Kucia took a loaded Glock up to communion at a South Side church Sunday morning, apparently for protection, was arrested by a high-ranking police official who happened to be attending the same Catholic mass.
David Kucia, 57, was charged with a weapons violation after his arrest by Deputy Chief James Keating and Sgt. Joseph Kipka at Nativity of Our Lord, the Bridgeport parish where the Daley family was reared.Keating was kneeling in his pew, having just taken communion himself at the 11 a.m. mass, when two eagle-eyed ushers knelt beside him and quietly told him someone in the back of church had a gun. The man had just moved the weapon from his back pocket to his waistband — it was mostly hidden under his shirt — and was in line for communion. And, they added, nobody at the tight-knit parish recognized him as one of the regular cops who attend.
“I said, ‘No problem.’ Just act normal,” Keating said. ” . . . Don’t make eye contact.”Keating, who suspected Kucia was not a threat by the way he was acting, watched him take communion. Keating then genuflected and followed Kucia out of the church where he made small talk on the front steps about the unusually hot weather. Then Keating told Kucia he knew he had a gun.Kucia allegedly first said he was a cop but then quickly changed his story, saying he’d been robbed and threatened and needed to protect himself. So he was carrying.“I said you can’t do it in church,” Keating said. “You can’t do it anywhere in the city of Chicago.”Kipka had joined Keating by then and the two made the arrest, also finding a shotgun in Kucia’s truck.

Jesse William Patterson who had barricaded himself inside a manufactured home on Tuscany Drive

Central Oregon'S SWAT team fired smoke bombs through the windows of a southwest Bend home Sunday morning where a dangerous and wanted man was holed up.
For six hours, police were in an intense standoff with Jesse William Patterson, 40, who had barricaded himself inside a manufactured home on Tuscany Drive, off of Brookswood Boulevard. Police and neighbors say it all started after a nasty fight with his wife that sent her to the emergency room of St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.Armored vans filled the streets and officers with serious guns patrolled the sidewalks as the SWAT team made its presence well known in the Fox Hills neighborhood."They (police) grouped up, and I watched them go in, and a few minutes later I heard a few more shots - it must have been smoke bombs," said neighbor Robert Ray.Smoke bombs were sent flying through the front windows of the home in the 61000 block of Tuscany Drive, where Patterson was holed up inside his mother's house.
Neighbors called the police after they say Patterson beat his wife with a gun in the front yard, threatening to kill her."We got information he was armed with a handgun and we tried numerous attempts from about 5 a.m. this morning until just recently at 10 a.m. to try and get him to come out," said Bend Police Lt. Cory Darling. "He would not comply with us. He would not come out."But Patterson,was finally smoked out five hours later, with no bullets fired.The domestic violence allegedly started around 3 a.m. Next-door neighbor Luanna Harrison said she heard it all. "I heard someone scream," Harrison told NewsChannel 21. "So I ran to my window and it's right there, and so you can see into his house, and he was hitting her and stuff. Then she ran around the porch and was banging on our door, so I let her in."Bloodied, with broken bones in her face and barely able to open her eyes, neighbors say Patterson's wife warned police about the gun before she was rushed to the hospital.The Fox Hills manager tells NewsChannel 21, Patterson had been kicked out of the neighborhood for past domestic violence and this time had sneaked back into his mother's house.Jail records show he's a wanted man. With four warrants out for him, Patterson's been in and out of jail five times.Neighbors are now just hoping it's over."I was just like, 'What's going on?'" Robert Ray said. "I thought I lived in a safe neighborhood and this happened right in my backyard basically."
Jesse Patterson is charged with attempted murder, assault and being a felon in possession of two guns, and is being held without bail on numerous arrest and probation violation warrants. His wife was treated for her facial injuries at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.

Chicago weekend driveby shooting

Chicago Police say they're still investigating a weekend driveby shooting that left five men injured.Police say the men were at an outdoor party on the city's South Side late Friday when a gunman opened fire from a vehicle. None of the men's injuries were considered life-threatenting, and all were in good condition.No one is in custody

Bullet-riddled body of Jermaine Williams found in Queens this week was that of a one-time bodyguard for Busta Rhymes

A bullet-riddled body found in Queens this week was that of a one-time bodyguard for - the rap star's second enforcer to be murdered in two years, police and sources said Friday.Police found the remains of Jermaine Williams, 35, wrapped in a blanket in a bloody truck parked on 79th St. in Ozone Park on Wednesday. He had been shot multiple times. "We have all suffered a great loss and Jermaine Williams will be deeply missed," Rhymes said Friday through his lawyer, Scott Leemon.
Williams' family said the Bronx father of two had been visiting his grandmother, but didn't know what happened after that. No arrests have been made. Another Rhymes bodyguard, Israel Ramirez, 29, was gunned down in 2006 during a celebrity-studded video shoot in Brooklyn - just feet from the rapper. The case remains unsolved.

Each gun was worth Rp 8 million. Transactions were made by phone, and we agreed to meet at a set location. I got Rp 500,000 for each gun sold

Police caught one suspect and confiscated one short barrel FN type firearm in Tambun, Bekasi."We presumed the gun belonged to the Indonesian Army," Tambun subprecinct police chief Adj. Comr. Shinto Silitonga said, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com. "The syndicate erased the gun's serial number and repainted it black," he said. The suspect, Juwanda Tambun, is a resident of Jatimulya, Bekasi. Juwanda was a courier who delivered guns, Shinto said. Juwanda was waiting for buyers next to Sinar Jaya bus depot, Tambun, when police approached him on Friday afternoon. Police shot the suspect in his left leg as he tried to escape on his motorcycle. Asides from the FN-type gun, police also confiscated one magazine, six bullets, one cellphone and the motorcycle. Juwanda admitted that his boss, JK, told him to deliver the guns. "Each gun was worth Rp 8 million. Transactions were made by phone, and we agreed to meet at a set location. I got Rp 500,000 for each gun sold," Juwanda said.

Police officers have shot each other, hit patrol cars and blasted a range of household items in a twoyear catalogue of blunders.

One gun cop even shot himself by accident. officers have shot each other, hit patrol cars and blasted a range of household items in a twoyear catalogue of blunders.
Police opened fire 46 times in error between January 2006 and March 2008. In the same period marksmen used their guns in real threats 18 times. The worrying statistics call into question the competence and training of the 14,200 officers authorised to carry firearms in England, Wales and Ulster. Gun Control Network chair Gill Marshall-Andrews said: "Even highly-trained police are prone to accidents and mistakes which can have dreadful consequences. "It's lucky no officer has been killed by a colleague yet." Since 2006 two officers have been accidentally shot and one civilian police worker was hit - during a gun awareness training session. Five patrol cars and two private vehicles have been damaged by wayward bullets - none fired in the line of duty. More than a third of Britain's negligent gun blasts happened in Northern Ireland, where all officers carry weapons. In London there were nine discharges made in error and three in Bedfordshire, according to figures revealed under the Freedom of Information Act. Police have also used guns to shoot dead rogue animals. Guidelines for armed officers are issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers. West Mercia's Deputy Chief Constable Ian Arundale insisted firearms training in Britain is "among the best in the world". He added: "Whilst any accidental discharge is a cause for concern, training and debriefing and a review of procedures take place to ensure such unfortunate incidents are kept to an absolute minimum. "Every incident of accidental discharge is fully investigated. Where negligence does occur, individuals are dealt with accordingly." Five members of the public have been shot dead by cops since January 2006, including barrister Mark Saunders last month A clumsy marksman shot a hole in the seat and floor pan of a police car in Cheshunt, Herts. Four other police vehicles have also been hit
Police control room worker Keith Tilbury shot in the stomach during training session at the Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, Oxon, in May last year
Cop blasted in the chest with a shotgun at the police firing range at Gatwick Airport in August last year. Body armour saved the PC from serious injury
West Mercia police officer shot himself in the leg and foot when his gun got caught in his clothing in January 2006 18 bullets used in the "humane destruction" of two bullocks by Cambridgeshire Police. Four officers repeatedly blasted the animals in the village of March in November 2006 A caravan, a mattress, one kitchen oven, a hot water tank and a cabinet have also been "accidentally" hit by police officers - along with two privately-owned cars, floor tiles, walls and a skirting board