A bail bondsman based out of southwest Arkansas turned himself into Fort Smith police last week on a warrant for criminal mischief from an incident that occurred back in January.
Zachery Lynn York, a bail bondsman out of southeast Arkansas, kicked in the door of an apartment where he thought a fugitive was being harbored by family members, and the incident isn't the first time the company he works for, J.E. Bonding has been in legal jeopardy because of their tactics.
According to he incident report filed with the Fort Smith Police Department, on January 30, 2021 around 1:48pm a police officer was dispatched to an apartment complex located at 2401 South 50 Street.
A resident of the apartment told the officer York had knocked on the door inquiring about an automobile the man had for sale.
York then asked to speak with the man's brother, identified as Marquila Kones, and was informed by the resident that Jones wasn't there and did not live there. York knocked again and this time placed his fort in the doorway to prevent the resident from shutting the door.
The resident tried to close the door and Mr. York refused to let him, at which time the man told his son call 911. After struggling to close the door the resident was able to do so and locked it with the dead bolt.
York then kicked the door open and threatened the resident with a Taser. When told the police had been called, York returned to his truck and waited for officers to arrive.
When police spoke with York he claimed that he had gathered information from by running Kone's social security number, the tag number of an automobile and speaking with another couple who lived at the complex that he believed Kones was living in the apartment.
York told officers he had "leaned his shoulder" into the door but the officer observed that the trim to the door had been broken off the wall and the hole in the door frame for the dead bolt had been completely broken through "as if a great amount of force had
hit the door".
The registration to the vehicle York claimed to have used to trace his suspect to the apartment was for the man living in the apartment, who consented to a search to the residence. oKOnes was not located at that time.
York agreed to allow police to take photos of his paper work for Kones and no further police action was taken at the time.
The apartment resident was contacted by police on February 10 to determine if York had contacted the victim or the apartment complex manager about making restitution for the damages, which he had not done. At that time, the resident asked for a warrant to be issued for York.
York, of Ashdown, turned himself in at the Sebastian County Detention Center at 1 p.m. February 25, charged with Criminal Mischief in the First Degree and was released eight hours later on a $500 bond.
Kones has since been arrested by the Fort Smith Police Department on a Class C Felony Failure to Appear charge and remains in custody at the SCDC.
Another J.E. Bonding bondsman by the name of Marvin Gilley was sued by a couple in Pangburn County in October of last year after one he and two others detained the couple in what was a case of a mistaken address. One of the three men claimed to be a US Marshal and a gun was pointed at the couple before the mistaken address was realized.
Gilley had previously worked for another bail bond company and had filed a lawsuit for breach of contract prior to the October incident.
