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Posted on: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 11:27 AM HST
Local congressmen not asked to support "Dog"
Star-Bulletin staff and news services



Hawaii’s two Democratic congressmen were not among the 29 U.S. Representatives who sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking her to deny the extradition of Duane “Dog” Chapman to Mexico, where he faces charges of illegal detention and conspiracy.

Reps. Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie, both Democrats, said they were not asked to join in the appeal that Dave Helfert, spokesman for Abercrombie described as “partisan effort” and signed by only Republicans.

“Nobody asked us,” Helfert said.

Chapman, who is the star of the popular TV show “Dog The Bounty Hunter,” was arrested at his Portlock residence Sept. 14 along with two of his co-stars after his capture of fugitive convicted rapist Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir, on June 18, 2003, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Chapman was released on $300,000 bail the next day. He must attend extradition hearings to face trial in Mexico, where bounty hunting is considered a crime.

“It seems that Mexican authorities are pressing this case only because they are so stung by the embarrassment of failing where Mr. Chapman succeeded,” Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, said in the Sept. 26 letter signed by 28 other congressmen.

Chapman’s capture of Luster, who had fled the country during his trial on charges he raped three women, catapulted the 53-year-old bounty hunter to fame and led to the Hawaii-based reality series on A&E. Luster is now serving a 124-year prison term.

Chapman was not immediately available for comment on the letter.

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Star-Bulletin reporter Gregg K. Kakesako and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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