Last week, Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of A&E's Dog the Bounty Hunter, announced that he is willing to co-sign jailed Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis' bond.  The 54-year-old reality star offered his help after Francis' interview on FOX's On the Record with Greta Van Susteren convinced him the producer was being mistreated by the Florida legal system.

Earlier this week, Chapman repeated his statement of support for Francis, telling TMZ.com that he and his team will “guarantee that Joe will show up in court on the day he's supposed to, tentatively on time.”  He also reiterated that if Francis tries to flee from him and the court, he will personally “go after him and bring him back,” no matter where in the world Francis might be.

“I have connections now all over the world, thank God, and so there's nowhere that he can run and can hide from me,” Duane Chapman told TMZ.com.  “If he runs, we're going to catch him.”

Duane Chapman, a famed bounty hunter, is regarded by many as a role model, considering his dedication to capturing the nation's most dangerous and elusive fugitives.  In fact, he's initial claim to fame was tracking down and capturing rapist Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir who was convicted of more than 80 counts of rape in absentia.  The capture also landed him Dog the Bounty Hunter, wherein his wife Beth, and son Leland, also appear.

Starring in Dog the Bounty Hunter has boosted Chapman's popularity and earned him a large fan base.  Some of them seem unfazed by Duane Chapman's decision to help Francis, a 34-year-old producer and entrepreneur who was arrested in April for allegedly violating a contempt of court citation during negotiations in a civil lawsuit filed by seven women who claim they were underage when they were filmed by his company in 2003.

However, one BuddyTV reader has questioned Duane Chapman's announcement, saying that Francis has actually been treated fairly in Florida.

“I love Dog and the Chapman family and it really makes me wonder why Dog would make such an offer to Joe Francis!!!  I live here in Panama City and I know the judge on this case and he is a fair and just man, the media refuses to add the parts where Joe Francis thumbed his nose at our judicial system and referred to us as a bunch of ‘dumb' Southerners,” he wrote.  “Dog, you [are] a big enough public figure without taking on Joe Francis... HE WAS TREATED FAIR HERE IN FLORIDA, but the man is a con artist!!!!”

What do you think about Chapman offering his help to Francis? Feel free to post your opinions on the comment box below.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TMZ
(Image Courtesy of MSNBC)