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A bail bondsman needs help to bail out of jail after police say he kidnapped and roughed up family members of a man who jumped bail. The bondsman now faces charges of kidnapping and assault.
Police had been searching for Pablo Alcalde for the past two weeks. They arrested him Tuesday, and he still is in jail. He is accused of going after the wife and the father-in-law of a man who failed to show up in court.
This story began on Aug. 8 when 35-year-old Armando Ramos-Hernandez was arrested for domestic violence. He got Alcalde's company, Real Bail Bonds in West Jordan, to post his $3,000 bail. He then failed to appear in court. Orem police say on Sept. 4 the bail bondsman went after the bail jumper's wife.
Lt. Doug Edwards of the Orem Department of Public Safety said, "(It was) very frightening, to the extent she became physically ill, with the crying, her hysteria, being dragged away from the home in handcuffs."
Alcalde is accused of then going after the bail jumper's father-in-law in American Fork and taking him by force to help search for Ramos-Hernandez.
"He had both of these people, hanging onto them as hostages basically, trying to extract information from them. When it didn't work out, he finally just let them go on a street corner in American Fork," Edwards said.
Police tracked Alcalde to an office in West Jordan and arrested him. He now faces two counts of kidnapping, assault and burglary for overstepping his authority to round up his bail jumper.
"He can use force in order to bring in the person that has jumped bail if he finds them. But he can't just pick a door and say, ‘I'm going to go search in here for the guy.' And he certainly can't haul innocent people off in handcuffs and force them under duress to show him where he thinks the person may be," Edwards explained.
Police say both victims speak only Spanish. Officers are concerned the suspect may have done this to other Hispanics who may be reluctant to get involved with law enforcement.
A judge has set Alcalde's bail at $200,000, but the man who usually helps bail people out of jail hasn't been able to get anyone to spring him yet.
Ramos-Hernandez is still on the run, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
