Bail bond agents kill man sitting in car in Lakewood
June 26, 2008
The headline read, “Bail bond agents kill man sitting in car in Lakewood”. (May 23, 2008, the newstribune.com).
That’s not exactly the way it happened.
For the first time, PHREE can talk about the case. And talk, we should. The Bail Recovery Agent, who killed Roberto Roque, is my long-time bounty hunter, Mike.
Let’s discuss this case for a moment for all you “bloggers” who had so many opinions.
Mike is not a “rogue” bounty hunter who walked up to an “innocent” man sitting in his car, and shot him in cold blood.
Mike was a Tacoma Police Officer for sixteen years, having served on the TPD SWAT team for six years. He is a highly skilled, highly trained, and highly decorated professional. After he was shot during an armed robbery, the police department retired him because of his injuries. A friend suggested that he try bounty hunting, and he did.
When Mike entered the field, nearly twenty years ago, the general consensus was “bounty hunters are a necessary evil”. At that time, most bail bond company owners thought it took a criminal mind to find one. The bounty hunters who were out on the street were in most cases, convicted felons. Unskilled and untrained, they waved guns in the faces of innocent, removed money, drugs and/or jewelry from defendants that they kept for themselves, beat up defendants on their way to jail; male or female, it didn’t matter. For the most part, bounty hunters were braggarts with very little skill. All brawn and no brains, they unnecessarily abused defendants, and disturbed the general public as they went about their business.
Mike changed all that.
In conjunction with Mike Carroll, Mike convinced the state legislature that bounty hunters, like police officers, should be held to a strict code of ethics. They should be properly trained and licensed before being allowed out on the street. They should have a clean police record (no felonies), become certified in firearms, learn the escalation of force—when it is and isn’t appropriate to pull your weapon—should be licensed by the state and held accountable for their actions. Fortunately, they agreed.
The new law regulating bounty hunters was passed in WashingtonState in 2004 and became effective in 2006. The first of its kind in the nation. Since, several other states have adopted the same or similar law, and other states are currently considering passage.
For the record, there is much more to this case than most realize. It is our strong opinion that this incident should have never happened. The events leading up to the suspect’s death, involved several other agencies. In PHREE’s opinion, had they done their jobs properly, Mr. Roque may still be alive. Through no fault of their own, the bonding company was still on the hook and bail recovery agents were forced to pursue the defendant.
Unfortunately, the headline that was released was erroneous and misleading. At that time, since the case was still under investigation, PHREE couldn’t comment. Now we can.
Mike was notified by the proper authorities that no charges will be filed. Prosecutors determined that Mike killed the man in self-defense.
It’s tragic that Roberto decided he’d rather die than go back to jail. It’s unfortunate that he chose a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
PHREE has sympathy for the family, and offers our sincere condolences.
PHREE released a follow up article in the Tacoma News Tribune, detailing all the events leading up to the shooting as described by the men who were there and knows all the facts.
