Two bounty hunters from Connecticut were arrested in Rhode Island on Thursday after authorities say they illegally apprehended a man in a Providence courthouse.
Rhode Island State Police say Angel Guadalupe, 45, of Bristol, and William Sobota, 40, of Burlington, were charged with kidnapping and conspiracy.
Police say the bounty hunters detained the man based on a Connecticut warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court to face misdemeanor charges. They drove off with the man, but state troopers stopped them on Interstate 95 in Warwick.
"A trooper working the security detail was alerted that somebody just got handcuffed in the hallway," Rhode Island State Police Lt. Col. Kevin Barry told WJAR-TV. "That's not how the protocols happen. Nobody gets handcuffed or transported in the hallways."
Officials also said Rhode Island laws do not allow out-of-state bounty hunters to operate in Rhode Island.
"Rhode Island law does not have a law that allows out of state bounty hunters to come in," Barry said.
Guadalupe and Sobota were released on their own recognizance. The suspect was also released without incident.
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A phone listing for Guadalupe could not be found, and no one answered a listing for Sobota Thursday.
