DETROIT – Two bounty hunters are in police custody after shooting a parole absconder Friday afternoon in Detroit.
The two bounty hunters are a 41-year-old man from Roseville and a 31-year-old man from St. Clair Shores. Their attorney, James Galen, said they are experienced in their job.
The shooting happened outside of a Family Dollar store on Schoolcraft, near the Southfield Freeway. The bounty hunters were trying to take a man into custody for jumping bail.
The man they were trying to take into custody was Corey Crawford, 29. He was on parole for a home invasion in Macomb County when he was picked up in North Dakota for showing an officer a fake ID. Police said when they booked him in October they found $11,000 worth of oxycodone pills hidden in his underwear. He had been on the run with bail bondsmen in pursuit ever since.
That’s until Friday afternoon when, according to the bounty hunters’ attorney, they saw their chance to catch him. One of them shot and struck Crawford, but a mother and her 4-year-old were also in the car.
Galen said his client didn’t know that the others were in the car. He also said that the bounty hunters did have badges around their necks and identified themselves as bounty hunters.
The Michigan Department of Corrections said there were better ways to handle the situation, like waiting for assistance from the U.S. Marshals or Detroit police.
Crawford is at the Detroit Re-entry Center in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections.
The bounty hunters were taken into custody. Their attorney said they will be released Saturday pending further investigation.