Adventures of a Bail Bondsman (Part 3) by Valerie Murray

When I first got the call from T.J. Crosell, Cherokee’s boss, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. He asked me to look him up explaining that he may want to post his bond. Cherokee, of course, was not his real name but dubbed that because he was Indian. After seeing his charges, my first question was why would you possibly want to be on the hook for $10,000 involving this guy? He had said that he was a General Contractor and needed Cherokee to finish a job. He had the money and property to back the bond. It gave me a feeling that this could be good. ( There are so many times you have someone call who is either underage, no job, no money, no collateral, in other words no way)….

After I pulled Cherokee’s file up, I felt much different. I had to tell Mr. Crosell what he would be signing for. Cherokee had a possession of crack with intent to sell. That meant he had a bunch of crack. I always look up my bondees history before I call the co-signer back so I can be honest with them about their priors. This includes but not limited to… failure to appears, domestic violence, carrying concealed weapons, theft or anything else they may not know about. After all, they are going to stick their neck, not to mention money, out for them. Cherokees history was pretty bad. I took a deep breath and called Mr. Crosell expecting him to back out of guaranteeing the bond. He told me he knew of his past and that Cherokee was his best plumber. He had worked for him for over a year and never did anything wrong. He showed up every day and did a great job. He even said that he would have Cherokee stay with him the night before court to make sure he got there.

I went through the regular checks on the co-signer, no big felonies or history of violence. Mr. Crosell had some murky water, not too bad and he owned property. He bought repo homes in the ghetto, fixed them up a bit and sold them on land contract. He, himself was a bit of a hustler. He just hadn’t been arrested…yet. When we met to set everything up, I got the property to back the bond, promissory note signed, ID and the 10% for me. I knew right then that he was in the process of raising himself from a bad place. I didn’t feel in danger but I felt he could be dangerous. Kind of smooth. Thought himself a ladies man, probably was. I posted bond for Cherokee within the hour. He was back to work for Crosell Construction in two. He wasn’t scheduled for court for another two weeks. I checked in with T. J. a couple times a week to make sure all was well. He assured me he had it all under control. Cherokee showed up for work every morning and was doing a great job. The evening before he was to show for trial I called just as a reminder and to make me feel better. I was told that Cherokee was sleeping in the guest room and he would be taking him to court in the morning. I was a happy person……Then I got the call. At 7:30AM I was holding the phone with a crazy man screaming on the other end. Not only was Cherokee gone but he stole his bosses truck and his gun. I tried to calm him down with letting him know that I had 30 days before the $10,000 was lost and I was sure I WOULD FIND HIM. He wasn’t having it. He took it personal. It was not about the” money”. He was betrayed and used. Where he came from, trust and loyalty was much more important…

T. J. told me not to worry, that he would let me know where and when to pick him up. I warned him that he did not legally have any right to hold him. He should leave it up to me. My team and I would take care of it. Again, he was not hearing me. He hung up….He was on a mission…..

Contact Valerie Murray & Son Bail Bonds