PA-Bondsman Gets Probation in Shooting

PENNSYLVANIA-The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reports that a bail bondsman who shot a fugitive in Lancaster was spared a prison sentence. Bondsman Dale Kauffman was sentenced to 5 years probation and ordered to stop working as a bail bondsman. Kauffman shot Moises Torres in 2006, as Torres tried to flee a home while Kauffman and another bail bondsman were in the home trying to detain him. Judge Louis J. Farina said a "deficiency in our system" allows bail bondsmen to be placed in difficult situations with dangerous criminals. "(Kauffman) was never trained," Farina said. "This points out a deficiency in our system, so I have some sympathy for your plight. We need to send a message to other bondsmen," Farina continued. "You are the first. I'm not aware of any case like this. And I want you to be the last." Kauffman pleaded guilty in December to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Torres was unarmed when he ran from the bail bondsmen, court documents say. Kauffman fired one shot from his 40-caliber handgun, striking Torres' right leg. The bullet shattered Torres' tibia, requiring him to undergo surgery and skin grafts, court documents say.

Defense attorney Herbert M. Crystle told Farina that Torres elbowed Kauffman in the throat before fleeing the home. Kauffman is a "good man," Crystle said, "who made a bad decision in the heat of the moment."

Kauffman spoke briefly before he was sentenced. "My intent was never to hurt anybody — but to bring him in," Kauffman told Farina. "I can't (change) what did happen. I'm truly sorry I injured Mr. Torres." Crystle told Farina that Kauffman has continued to work as a bail bondsman but no longer carries a gun.

Farina acknowledged writing bail was a source of income for Kauffman, but ordered him to cease practicing. "I have serious reservations about whether a convicted felon should be serving bail pieces," Farina said. Apprehending and detaining fugitives while unarmed could place a bondsman at risk, the judge said. "We allow you to be armed when you arrest dangerous people," he said. "There are rules people in your business need to be aware of and trained for. It doesn't excuse you — but it does mitigate.” “You are a good man. But, you made a very bad mistake here and seriously hurt somebody," Farina told Kauffman. "The system doesn't work when it lets people do what you did."