GREENVILLE Agent in Luster case was warned

Bail agent Tim Chapman is being held in a Mexican jail on kidnapping charges.
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The chairman of Bail USA, based here, said the head of his Hawaii office was advised not to go to Mexico in pursuit of Andrew Luster, heir to the Max Factor fortune and a convicted rapist.
Today, Luster is in federal custody in the United States, but Tim Chapman, Bail USA's agent, and four others are lodged in a Mexican jail in Puerto Vallarta, charged with kidnapping.
Luster, convicted in California in absentia on rape and other charges in connection with date-rape drug assaults on three women, had posted $1 million bail to get out of jail earlier this year but disappeared.
He was warned
Harvey Childs, chairman of Bail USA, said Chapman had spoken with Cheryl Burns, Bail USA's chief executive officer, about two weeks ago, telling her he was involved in the hunt for Luster.
Burns told him not to go to Mexico, warning him that it was dangerous, Childs said.
It wasn't even a Bail USA bond; Luster had posted a cash bail, Childs said.
Childs said Chapman, a California native, has been with his company for many years but didn't listen to company advice on this case.
Stay out
Childs said his advice to bail agents chasing bail skippers is to "stay the hell out of Mexico."
He has been to the country many times and went there two years ago to specifically investigate the problem with bail skippers fleeing to Mexico.
He said he came back with the understanding that Mexican officials don't want bounty hunters in their country. They told him it is an invasion of their sovereignty and anyone caught taking a fugitive into custody could face up to 20 years in prison.
Will help
Childs doesn't know what will happen to Chapman and the other members of his team but said his company will do what it can to help Chapman.
None of this had to happen, Childs said, noting that the FBI was also on the case and was only an hour behind the bail agents when they caught Luster on Wednesday morning. The best move would have been to allow the FBI to pick him up, Childs said, noting that the bail agents may have been after a reward offered for Luster's arrest.