Lipstick Bounty Hunters Hit With Lawsuit, May Face Charges

A trio of pink-clad women, who proudly call themselves the “Lipstick Bounty Hunters,” are facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit alleging they used extreme and excessive force when they attempted to detain 35-year-old Daniel Lee Duvall on March 18.

Duvall’s bond contract, garnering his temporary release on drug and weapons charges, had been revoked due to non-payment of the remaining balance of $4,000 of his $5,000 bond bill.

Surreptitiously, the bond agents led Duvall to believe the rendezvous at an Arby’s in Huntington Beach, California was meant to straighten out a mix up regarding his paperwork. He did not realize a ruse was afoot until they tried to take him into custody.

Duvall states he’s been permanently blinded in the right eye, donning an eye patch similar to that of the governor on The Walking Dead, and received a broken nose as a result of the Arby’s parking lot encounter with the women.

Duvall’s attorney, Daniel Gilleon, states the unwarranted use of girl power was out of line, as Duvall was repeatedly tasered, grappled, pepper-sprayed, and haphazardly shot with rubber bullets when the trio assailed upon his unsuspecting client.

Gilleon defined the event as assault and battery, a negligent version of a proper fugitive apprehension, feeling the women have made a mockery of the profession – treating it like the Wild West.

Gilleon even alluded to the less than professional pasts of the women involved in an interview on Prime Timewith Taylor Baldwin, referencing prior issues with the insurance commissioner.

Gilleon claims that Duvall’s original bond was actually for $100,000 with a premium of $10,000. He said Duvall was only ordered to pay $1,000, which he did. Therefore, Duvall’s bond contract should have still been valid.

The Lipstick Bounty Hunters – who record and share several of their detainments on YouTube, wear vibrantly pink uniforms branded with Pink Bail Enforcement, tote hot pink accessories as part of the motif, and have a hot pink fleet of vehicles – are part of Lipstick Bail Bonds. They claim they record the incidents to combat false accusations from fugitives they take into custody, and not as a promotion tool.

The bail bonds company, serving the state of California, is owned and operated by twin sisters Teresa and Lisa Golt, both former LAPD officers for nearly a decade before becoming licensed bond agents.

The purpose of a bail bonds company is posting bail to get suspects out of jail until their next due date in court. Lipstick Bail Bonds charges 10 percent to release suspects. They then monitor them to ensure they make their court dates.

If a suspect skips bail by failing to appear in court the company loses the money posted for the suspect’s release. The suspect then becomes a fugitive, is placed on the Lipstick’s Most Wanted website for tips and leads, and is hunted down by “the bond girls.”

The Golt sisters, partnered with former corrections officer Ronnie Faciane, are seen in the self-produced video approaching Duvall inside the Arby’s restaurant. A struggle ensues thereafter, with Duvall evading the agents and rushing out into the parking lot to his car.

In the video you can discern the sounds of the taser and rounds of plastic bullets being fired off. Decide yourself if you feel the incident was excessive or not.

http://youtu.be/SEh3Q9ARMKE

Duvall, whose street name is “Bullets,” feels the initial attempt of apprehension was extreme. The pink ladies disagree, feeling they failed to use enough force, and argued he’d sustained the injuries he had from resisting apprehension. They assert they were doing their job and note that Duvall was not pepper sprayed.

Duvall was eventually taken into custody on his expired bond.

Do you feel the ladies used excessive force when attempting to detain their fugitive?

[Image via Shutterstock]