Minn. Fugitive, 2 Bounty Hunter Killed In Texas Shootout
GREENVILLE, Texas (WCCO) -- A wanted fugitive from Minnesota is dead after a shootout with bounty hunters at a car dealership in Texas, and the end of the confrontation was caught on camera.
The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at a Nissan dealership in Greenville, Texas, about an hour northeast of Dallas.
Local bounty hunter Stew Peters who had been searching for fugitive Ramon Hutchinson since he failed to show up for a Hennepin County court appearance for a DUI arrest, assaulting a police officer, and cocaine possession in March.
When Peters got word that Hutchinson had gone to Texas, he asked for help from another bounty hunter, who ultimately lost his life.
"I don't even know how to begin to react," Peters said.
Court records show a warrant was issued for 49-year-old Ramon Hutchinson, who went by the alias Raymond, in Hennepin County in March after he failed to show up for court.
Bail enforcement agent Stew Peters has been tracking down wanted fugitives for 14 years. When he got a tip that Hutchinson had made it to Texas, he called another, experienced bounty hunter.
Peters says Fidel Garcia Jr. and another man named Gabriel Bernal tracked Hutchinson to the Greenville area. Peters says Garcia told him to put a tracking device on Hutchinson's girlfriend's car. When he realized she traded it in at a Nissan car dealership in town, Garcia and Bernal came up with a plan to get them back to that location.
When they arrived they claimed they were federal agents, according to the car dealership owner Rick Ford, and waited for the girlfriend, a customer, and Hutchinson. Peters said he finds it hard to believe the two would have claimed to be federal agents.
Cell phone video shows the moment when the two men tried to arrest Hutchinson inside the dealership. He pulls out a gun and starts firing. When it was over, all three men were dead.
Peters says he's stunned by the death of his colleague, but grateful no customers were hurt.
"It's just a horrible loss. Fidel was just a great friend," Peters said.
Peters says he had spoken to Garcia on the phone Tuesday before he went to the dealership. He says his agency will hunt for up to 50 fugitives at a time and work for a dozen bail bond companies.
