Ventura – “Avoid lengthy stays in jail with help from our bail bond agents…”
So reads the opening line of advertising copy for Biker Bail Bonds, operating out of offices within a stone’s throw of Ventura County’s sprawling Administration, courthouse, and central jail facilities. Their online pitch even sounds empathetic with “we know that an arrest can be tough for the individual and his family, so we offer compassionate service.” (italics theirs)
Wonderful verbiage that may be in stark contrast to the reality of their “compassionate service”, as Brian Gooch, 47 year-old owner of Biker Bail Bonds, and his agent-employee Tracy Ward, 48, have been the subjects of an 18-month investigation into the activities and practices of the company which culminated in the arrests of both men on December 17th.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Bill Schierman, the VCSD was informed as early as July 2012 by multiple parties that Biker Bail Bonds was engaged in “questionable business practices” amounting to criminal behavior. It was at that part, Schierman reported to the media, that both Ventura Sheriffs and investigators from the California Department of Insurance began their lengthy and detailed research into the activities of Gooch and Ward.
With the service of several search warrants upon the persons and residences of both men, law enforcement discovered evidence of stolen bail bonds as well as evidence of more than 100 episodes wherein Ward had performed bond services without a license and without direction from Gooch. Both men were then charged with conducting bail transactions without a license and booked into Ventura County Jail…where they promptly made bail.
Photo: Courtesy www.bikerbailbonds.com
Read more:
KCLU: Ventura bail bond company owner, agent arrested
VCStar: Deputies arrest Ventura bail bonds office owner, agent
