‘Dog’ Chapman coming back after lying low

Duane “Dog” Chapman is coming off the lam.

Not in a fugitive sense, but in a personal way after the reality TV star took a break from work and life in Hawaii after his wife, business partner and co-star, Beth, died in June following a long battle with cancer.

Hawaii’s most famous bail bondsman and bounty hunter plans to shift his part-time Hawaii residence from Oahu to the Big Island and reprise his role on TV with a new show in the works.

A nearly complete first episode of “Beware of Dog” concentrates on a fugitive allegedly involved with a drug cartel suspected of ties to embattled Kauai County Councilman Arthur Brun.

Chapman, 67, also is busy trying to rebuild depleted personal finances and maintain the family business here, Da Kine Bail Bonds, without its well-known downtown Honolulu storefront near state District Court.

To many fans and perhaps bail jumpers as well, it may have appeared that Chapman was lying low or retired from work after losing his beloved wife.

“Dog is just taking a little break,” said the Taser- carrying, leather-wearing, wrinkled and muscled bounty hunter fond of propping shades on a forehead framed by a long blond mullet. “I just needed to get away for a little bit. I’m not out of business. I’m not moving from Hawaii.”

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Dog, who got his nickname decades ago as a member of a mainland biker gang, has been a celebrity in Hawaii for nearly 20 years.

Born and raised in Denver, Chapman first came to the islands in 1989 where he set up shop as a bail bondsman after rebounding from a young life of crime on the mainland that included drug use, 18 arrests for armed robbery and 18 months in prison for a Texas murder conviction as an accessory to a killing tied to a drug deal gone bad.

Hawaii Deputy Sheriff Tommy Cayetano, who met him in 1990, said in a 2003 Honolulu Advertiser interview that Chapman was one of very few local bail bond providers who would track down their own clients for jumping bail.

“A lot of bail bondsman hire guys like Dog to look for the bail jumpers,” Cayetano said. “He’s also managed to provide us tips on fugitives that he’s not looking for.”

Chapman made a high- profile professional name for himself in 2003 by capturing Andrew Luster, an heir to the Max Factor family cosmetics company, in Mexico where Luster fled after being convicted of rape in Los Angeles.

That feat led to a 124-year prison sentence for Luster but also caused trouble for Chapman in Mexico and Hawaii because Mexican authorities regarded Luster’s apprehension in Puerto Vallarta as kidnapping.

After being arrested and released in Mexico, the bounty hunter himself jumped bail by not returning for a court hearing in Mexico. That prompted extradition proceedings in U.S. District Court for Chapman in Hawaii.

In 2007 a Mexican court dismissed the charges against Chapman, who had by then become famous not only for the Luster capture, but also for a breakout role on TV.

Cable network A&E featured the bounty hunter in a 2003 episode of its “Take This Job” show. That led to development of the Hawaii-based “Dog the Bounty Hunter” series, which ran on A&E from 2004 to 2012. This series — featuring Chapman, his wife and a crew of other family members and associates chasing fugitives in different states — attracted upward of 3 million viewers per episode at its peak.

A follow-on show — “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt” — ran on CMT from 2013 to 2015.

Chapman’s last reality TV production was “Dog’s Most Wanted” with 10 episodes that aired on WGN America from September to November and delved into Beth’s death.

During his TV fame years through today, Chapman has lived part time in Colorado. But his presence in Hawaii was always on display with TV episodes featuring the islands, the Da Kine Bail Bonds office downtown, a merchandise store at Koko Marina Center in Hawaii Kai and sightings in public life.

A larger-than-life image of Dog also graced a wooden driveway gate of the Chapmans’ Portlock home. The image — a golden- hued likeness of Dog centered on a badge along with Chapman’s name, the words “Bounty Hunter, United States of America” and his prison number — was so big that the city said it ran afoul of sign regulations subject to a $50 daily fine.

All those things — the TV show, the office, the store, the gate — are gone now.

Chapman said his wife’s battle with cancer disrupted the enterprise they had built and even made it difficult to maintain their finances.

“Cancer is expensive,” he said. “A lot of our savings were spent on keeping Beth alive.”

Chapman recognizes that the public might have an impression that his years of TV stardom put him in a well-off position financially. The reality, he said, is that he needs a paycheck.

“I’m not network,” he said. “I’m cable. I don’t make millions.”

Some of the financial strain can be gleaned in a lawsuit over the Portlock house the Chapmans had rented since 2006 and agreed to buy in 2015 for $2.8 million.

According to court documents, the Chapmans put $442,000 down and arranged financing from the sellers, who were to be paid in full within five years.

The sellers, Craig and Karen Mills, claimed the Chapmans fell behind on loan payments, utilities, insurance and property taxes by late 2017.

In late 2018 the sellers filed a lawsuit to evict the Chapmans and reclaim the property, on which they said $2.2 million was still owed. The litigation is still pending.

The Chapmans also encountered difficulties maintaining an office for Da Kine Bail Bonds. Early last year the rented office that had been a fixture on Queen Emma Street for 15 years closed to make way for redeveloping the building.

A new office quickly opened nearby, but Chapman said he closed it early this year because it didn’t garner the same foot traffic and wasn’t worth the expense.

Though an online presence still exists for Da Kine Bail Bonds where some Chapman family members work — including son Leland, daughter Cecily and grandson Dakota — the absence of a physical office have led some competitors to claim that Dog has quit the trade, according to Chapman, who also works in Colorado.

As for a new island home, Chapman said he intends to move to Hawaii island, maybe in May, in part because the cost of living in Kona is lower than Honolulu.

And though the coronavirus has put a damper on catching fugitives, the bounty hunter continues to track his latest target, who is the focus of an initial episode of a planned comeback show.

The fugitive in Chapman’s sights is Kauai resident Kameron Lawhead, whom police have described as an admitted heroin and crystal methamphetamine addict, career criminal and involved in a well-financed operation importing the two drugs from Oregon and California, according to a report in The Garden Island newspaper last year.

Lawhead was released on what Chapman said was a $750,000 bond that was the last bond written by Beth.

Chapman believes Lawhead fled to California, then maybe Mexico or Arizona, and is having an easier time not getting caught because of stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus outbreak.

“This guy is scum,” Chapman said. “It’s a perfect time to run.”

To finish the episode, Chapman wants to bring in Lawhead, whose bond is now over $2 million and could ruin Dog financially if he doesn’t deliver.

To deliver “Beware of Dog,” Chapman still needs a TV outlet to sign on to run it.

Honolulu defense attorney Brook Hart, who represented Chapman in his Mexican extradition case, wants to see Dog achieve a comeback.

Hart acknowledges that the bail bond business can be viewed as something that lets bad people out into the community, but he said it’s part of the justice system and that Chapman is one of the most upstanding people in the trade.

“He is a genuine person. He’s got a heart and he cares about people,” Hart said. “Apart from all the hoopla with his haircut, the outfits he sports and tattoos upon tattoos, he’s basically a kind person, a caring person, and tries to do the right thing.”