From Hudson Police:
Press Release – Bounty Hunters Confront Armed Man
On Sunday, May 26th at 9:03 pm Columbia County 911 contacted HPD and reported three females were chasing a man in the area of Front Street near the Basilica. Patrols arrived and identified the three females as “bail agents”, duly licensed by the State of Tennessee. Their target had allegedly brandished a knife and stated he would kill everybody, or do “suicide by cop”, before he would let them bring him back to jail in Tennessee.
Hudson police officers Strattman and Roberts chased after the man and caught up to him in front of #3 Allen Street, where they took him into custody without incident. At first, Officers believed the man was bleeding, only to discover that he was covered in pepper spray. They were informed that one of the bail agents had pepper sprayed the man after he allegedly threatened her with a knife. The man, in fact, had 4 knives in his possession when Officers searched him.
Arrested was – RANDOLPH W. BAKER, 51 yrs old of Allen Street, Hudson. He was charged with Menacing 2nd an A misdemeanor and Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd (previous conviction), a D felony. While in HPD custody, BAKER complained of irritation due to the pepper spray. Greenport Rescue Squad transported him to Columbia Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released back to HPD custody. BAKER was arraigned in front of City Court Judge John Connor and was remanded to the Columbia County Jail in lieu of 500 dollars bail.
A HPD sergeant confirmed that Mr. BAKER had an active warrant issued by the State of Tennessee for weapons charges. The warrant did not authorize extradition from outside Tennessee.
“The best I can tell, the three female bounty hunters were acting pursuant to the bail agreement Mr. Baker signed. However, we are not too familiar with bounty hunters in our area. Especially when they show up here with a police SWAT type vehicle, pepper spray, and a big dog. Our concern is simply public safety…to include our residents, the bail agents, and even Mr. Baker. I can easily see this situation getting out of hand, and I commend the quick response of Officers Strattman and Roberts , as well as Sgt Hodges’ patience to secure the scene and deliberately sort this thing out.” Chief