IN-Bondsman Found Guilty of Confinement

The Goshen News, of Goshen, Indiana, reports that a six-member jury returned a guilty verdict in a case of a Goshen bondsman, who was accused of confining a driver and her passenger in a traffic stop. Bart Dewald was convicted of criminal confinement, a Class D felony. Dewald was searching for a woman who was out on a bond through his agency.

The Goshen News reported that bondsman Constantine Nichols was driving a white sport utility vehicle and passed two women in a minivan, then slammed on the brakes, forcing the minivan driver to stop suddenly, too. Then Dewald drove up behind the van in a red pickup truck. The bondsmen went to the front doors of the minivan and spoke to the two women inside, asking if they knew the whereabouts of the woman the pair were searching for.

The vehicle was blocked and the two men were at either front door, blocking the women from opening their doors. But the women did not know answers to the questions posed by the bondsmen. They were stopped for five to 10 minutes, the jury was told.

One of the women testified in the trial that she felt they were free to go at any time. The other woman testified that she contacted Goshen police after the incident and was told she should file a complaint with the state Department of Insurance. The criminal case was brought against the two bondsmen after an investigation by an officer in the county prosecutor’s office.

Judge George Biddlecome set sentencing in the case next month. Dewald faces a prison term of up to three years for conviction of a Class D felony. He was allowed to remain free on bond until the sentencing hearing.