Bounty Hunter Says There Was No Mistaken Identity

Testimony is underway in the trial of four bounty hunters charged with assaulting an innocent man and pointing guns at his fiance and her daughter.

But one of the bounty hunters - while acting as his own attorney - told the jury the man’s story is made up.

Mark Beaver, Keith Markham, Walter Currier and Steve Philbeck worked for Beaver Bail Bonding in Shelby, NC. In February 2006, they went to Spartanburg looking for a man named Donald Eugene Bargo who had skipped bond on drug charges in North Carolina.

A man named Donald Eugene Carson was at his fiance’s apartment when he claims the men forced their way in with weapons drawn, shoved him against a wall, held a gun to his head, and said they had warrants for his arrest. He says he was finally able to show them his ID and prove he was not the man they were looking for.

When Spartanburg Public Safety would not file charges against the bail bondsmen, Carson took his case to the Attorney General’s Office. He argued the bondsmen violated South Carolina law when they crossed state lines because they do not have a license to operate in SC. He says they also had no right to bring weapons into his fiance’s home. SLED found that there was probable cause to get arrest warrants for the bounty hunters. They turned themselves in in April 2007, more than a year after the incident.

During opening day of their trial Monday, Carson’s fiance, Cassandra Lynch, testified she answered a knock at the back door to see Beaver and Philbeck standing with weapons drawn. She says they “pushed past” her into the home, asking where was “Donald”.

“They just started asking all these questions,“ said Lynch. “Then I figured out they were talking about another Donald. I told them there’s nobody by that name here.“

She says the were pointing guns at her and her daughter. And she says Currier and Markham had entered the apartment with weapons too, after her son answered their knock at the front door. She says Carson came downstairs to see what was going on, and that’s when Philbeck shoved him against the wall and pointed a gun at him. She says Beaver grabbed his arms from behind and restrained him until her son was able to retrieve his ID and show them they had the wrong man.

Theo Williams, attorney for Beaver, Philbeck and Currier, denies that the bounty hunters ever removed their weapons from their holsters. And he says Lynch invited them into the apartment - they did not force their way in. Markham, who is representing himself, says they never touched Carson because they knew immediately that he wasn’t their suspect when they saw him.

“We knew right away he wasn’t the individual we were looking for,“ says Markham. “He has a different skin tone, different height and a different age. And we all had pictures of Donald Bargo with us, so we knew what he looked like.“

He contends that they had good reason to believe Bargo was inside Lynch’s apartment. He says Bargo is the father of Lynch’s grandchild and was seen there that morning. Lynch said Bargo has never been to the apartment and she had not seen him since they moved to Spartanburg from North Carolina.
 
Testimony will resume Tuesday morning with Carson himself taking the stand.