BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) — The two bounty hunters accused of impersonating Caldwell police officers are now formally charged with felony unlawful arrest— but, ambiguity in Idaho law could still lead to these charges being dropped.
"When [police] finally said after hours and hours that we were under arrest and it was for impersonating police and false arrest, I said 'I don't understand why," said Kevin Ratigan last month after being arrested in Caldwell. "None of our equipment says police. I had all the paperwork in place. I am a bondsman and well within my right to arrest this individual who is out on our bond, they quote unquote said 'we don't care you are under arrest.'"
Ratigan's attorney, Quentin Lackey, told CBS 2 News on Tuesday that statement still stands.
He said his client acted legally under the Idaho Bill Bond Act of 2009—Section 19-2914 reads in part that bail agents can "empower any person of suitable age and discretion to arrest the defendant at any place within the state."
Meanwhile, Ratigan and his partner David Manery are facing felony charges of unlawful arrest under Idaho statute 18-711.
Caldwell Police report the two falsely represented themselves as officers and put a man into handcuffs who was not wanted by the law. Officers also say that at one point the man was held at gunpoint by either Ratigan or Manery.
Ratigan told CBS 2 News he works as a bail bond enforcement agent for Northwest Tactical Response. He claims he had the correct documents in place and was within his rights as an agent.
According to former Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney, Idaho's vague laws around bounty hunting are to blame for these contradicting viewpoints on what happened. He believes that not only did these two agents act outside of law, but that this is reason why laws surrounding bail bond enforcement in Idaho need to be made clear— so things like this do not happen.
"Bounty hunters don't have anymore authority than anyone else does," said Gary Raney, former Ada County Sheriff. "They just try to give people the impression that they are law enforcement. They don't have the right to stop people. They don't have the right to detain people or do anything else— unless they happen to be in a lawful spot to take custody of somebody who has violated the terms of being out on their bond. That's the only situation, but so often they go beyond those means. They intimidate other people. Just like what happened over in Caldwell, where [it was] the wrong person. Everything that happened there was illegal."
Ratigan and Manery are scheduled to appear in court August 14th for a preliminary hearing.
CBS 2 News will stay on top of this story.
ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpaeTlrlwtcOan6hlkqTCr8DYZp%2BupqSav264wLCqZqegmrtuwM5mqK6do6m2sLo%3D