Marco Padilla is the Colorado fugitive featured on Dog the Bounty Hunter who slipped away from Duane “Dog” Chapman’s 2008 manhunt and spent more than four years on the run before Mexican police arrested him in Guadalajara in late January 2012. He had skipped a Mesa County jury trial on felony methamphetamine charges, and his televised refusal to surrender to Chapman became the throughline of several A&E episodes.
The Drug Case He Ran From
Padilla was arrested in April 2007 on a Drug Task Force warrant after an alleged drug deal at a Walmart Supercenter in Delta, Colorado. The arrest warrant affidavit said authorities had received a tip that Padilla would be riding in a vehicle to pick up a half-pound of methamphetamine. Smaller quantities of drugs were recovered when Padilla and two other men were taken into custody.1Summit Daily. Fugitive Claims He’s Victim of Law Enforcement
Prosecutors filed an eight-count complaint that included felony conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and a sentence-enhancing special offender count. Padilla also faced a separate 2007 felony false reporting charge and three traffic violations.2Summit Daily. Dog Bags Three, Top Meth Figure Still at Large He was released on a $75,000 bond pending trial in Mesa County District Court before Judge Valerie Robison.3Grand Junction Sentinel. Bounty Hunter’s Mesa County Visit to Be Aired
On November 26, 2007, Padilla did not show up for his jury trial. A new warrant was issued and his bond was raised to $150,000, bringing his combined bond across all active warrants to $155,700.2Summit Daily. Dog Bags Three, Top Meth Figure Still at Large
In a September 2008 phone interview with a Colorado newspaper, a man identifying himself as Padilla said he had left Grand Junction in September 2007 for Denver, then Pueblo, then New Mexico. He claimed to have been a former informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Western Colorado Drug Task Force, and said law enforcement turned on him after he stopped cooperating. He said he fled to avoid what he described as a possible 12-year sentence.1Summit Daily. Fugitive Claims He’s Victim of Law Enforcement No agency confirmed or denied the informant claim.
Why Dog the Bounty Hunter Took the Case
Chapman wasn’t working for law enforcement. Safety National Casualty Corp., the insurance company on the hook for Padilla’s original $75,000 bond, hired him in September 2008 to find Padilla before the court finalized a judgment against the insurer. Judge Robison had granted the company an extension to November 28, 2008, to produce him.2Summit Daily. Dog Bags Three, Top Meth Figure Still at Large
The Hunt on Camera
Chapman and his crew spent weeks searching Grand Junction, Denver, and Pueblo. The pursuit was spread across several episodes of A&E’s Dog the Bounty Hunter.4Grand Junction Sentinel. Fugitive Who Ditched Dog Captured by Mexican Police Chapman never found Padilla. His team did pick up four other people wanted on Mesa County warrants in the Denver area during the search.5Grand Junction Sentinel. Dog Bags Four on the Lam Chief deputy district attorney Dan Rubinstein called those arrests incidental, saying the four were “people he’s bumping into who just happen to be wanted on Mesa County warrants.”2Summit Daily. Dog Bags Three, Top Meth Figure Still at Large
Padilla, in his phone interview, said he would turn himself in to law enforcement but not to Chapman, whom he dismissed with an expletive.1Summit Daily. Fugitive Claims He’s Victim of Law Enforcement The deadline passed without a capture, and a judge ordered the $75,000 bond forfeited.4Grand Junction Sentinel. Fugitive Who Ditched Dog Captured by Mexican Police
Clashes With Padilla’s Family
The hunt also produced friction with Padilla’s relatives. His father, Tony Padilla, told reporters that Chapman and his crew came to his Aurora home repeatedly over a two-week stretch in September 2008 demanding information and making threats. His sister, Elizabeth Padilla, had let Chapman’s team search her home in August 2008, but a later encounter turned hostile. A police report filed on September 16, 2008, described Beth Chapman, Duane’s wife, following Elizabeth Padilla after she left a Walmart and making a threatening, profanity-laced remark. Elizabeth Padilla said the confrontation was recorded by surveillance cameras and alleged that Beth Chapman said she would “edit the tapes.”6Grand Junction Sentinel. Fugitive’s Family: Bounty Hunter Has Made Threats
Chapman defended the approach, saying that “leaning on family members and those who sign for fugitives’ bonds” was part of the work and calling the dispute “part of the game in this good guy versus bad guy” situation.6Grand Junction Sentinel. Fugitive’s Family: Bounty Hunter Has Made Threats
Captured in Guadalajara
Padilla’s time on the run ended in late January 2012, more than four years after he skipped trial. Mexican police arrested him, then 35, in Guadalajara. The circumstances of the arrest were not made public. Mexican authorities contacted U.S. marshals, who notified Mesa County officials, and extradition proceedings began on or around January 31, 2012.4Grand Junction Sentinel. Fugitive Who Ditched Dog Captured by Mexican Police No further public reporting documented how the extradition concluded or how the Mesa County drug charges were ultimately resolved.