Leland Blane Chapman (born December 14, 1976) is an American

bail bondsman A bail bondsman, bail bond agent or bond dealer is any person, agency or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of a defendant in court. Bail bond agents are almost exclusively found in the ...

and

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for a bail bondsman who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as a bail enforcement agent or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated ...

, known as one of the stars of the

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

reality television program ''

Dog the Bounty Hunter ''Dog the Bounty Hunter'' is an American reality television series which aired on A&E and chronicled Duane "Dog" Chapman's experiences as a bounty hunter. With a few exceptions, the series took place in Hawaii or Dog's home state of Colorado ...

''. He also starred in the CMT television documentary '' Dog and Beth: On the Hunt''.

Early life

Chapman spent his early years in

Pampa, Texas Pampa (from the Quechua: ''pampa'', meaning "plain") is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,867 as of the 2020 census. Pampa is the county seat of Gray County and is the principal city of the Pampa micropolita ...

, but during his teen years, moved to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. As a teenager, Chapman ran away from home, began skipping school, and joined a gang. Unable to handle him any longer, his mother put him in

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

, although he ran away and he was placed in a boys home at 13. He was given the choice to go back into foster care or go live with his father and he chose to reside with his father. At seventeen, Chapman began training in

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

with the help of his good friend Sonny Westbrook (who has appeared many times on ''

'').

Career

On September 14, 2006, Leland Chapman was arrested along with Duane "Dog" Chapman and Tim Chapman by U.S. Marshals at the request of the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...

and was to be extradited to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to face charges of "deprivation of liberty". The charges stem from an incident in which they were chasing fugitive and

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending' ...

Andrew Luster Andrew Stuart Luster (born December 15, 1963) is an American convicted sex offender and the heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. He is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor Sr. In 2003, he was convicted of multiple sexual assaul ...

, the Max Factor Cosmetics heir. They captured Luster on June 18, 2003, in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

, Mexico. Shortly after the capture, the three were themselves arrested by Puerto Vallarta police officers; the three posted bail but never returned to Mexico for their court hearing on July 15, 2003. They were released from custody on bail; Leland and Tim Chapman's bail was set at $100,000 each, while Dog's was set at $300,000. They faced an extradition hearing to Mexico, under the terms of treaties between the United States and Mexico. Chapman, along with his brothers, Duane Lee and Wesley Chapman, formed Chapbros Media. The company launched an

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

and website talent contest application called, "Show Off". The March 21, 2012, episode depicted Duane Lee telling Beth, "You want me fired, you gotta fire me," after which Chapman stated that he was quitting too. In 2012, the two brothers publicly stated that they left the show. In a tweet from Beth she wrote, "It will take 6 weeks to get thru the whole thing tonight's jus icthe beginning". As of 2024, Chapman operates his own bail bond company, Kama'aina Bail Bonds in Hawaii. He previously headed Bounty Hunter Tactical Supply Co. after Duane Lee moved to Florida.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Leland 1976 births Bounty hunters Living people people from Carson County, Texas