A Colorado Springs resident has proceeded to sue the famous television bounty hunter, known popularly as Duane “Dog” Chapman for causing him defamation. The television star and his crew have been sued for allegedly lodging a false complaint against the Colorado Springs resident, Hoang Minh Phung Nguyen. Chapman and his crew had Nguyen arrested by saying that Nguyen had fired a gun at them while they were filming for an episode in a Colorado Springs parking lot.
Nguyen’s contention is that Duane Chapman, his sons Leland Blane Chapman and Duane Chapman II along with Colorado’s bail bondsman Bobby Brown had him unfairly arrested without reason and had resulted in his defamation. Moreover, Nguyen alleges that he was caused injury when in fact it was he who was fired upon by pepper pellets. He says this happened when he was fleeing the scene on a motorcycle on April 21, 2009 when the crew was shooting their film near the Apartments.
Nguyen was himself was facing charges at the time for failing to appear before a court hearing in a case of domestic violence lodged against him. Nguyen was also under a bond of $12,000 at the time, posted by Brown. Later on, Nguyen was apprehended by Chapman and Brown and handed over to police.
Although Nguyen was suspected of a second-degree murder attempt for carrying a dangerous weapon and also being a known offender, the prosecutors had declined to file charges against him after concluding that there was not enough evidence against him. Following this, in May 2009, Nguyen’s lawyer had tried to convince the judge to file a charge of false reporting against Chapman. However the judge had disagreed to that.
A lawsuit has been filed by Nguyen against the defendants who include Chapman’s company DA Kine Bail Bonds, Inc. and another company that produces the cable television program “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” In the lawsuit, Nguyen, 37, says that the defendants were responsible for defaming him, so much so that he had to relocate to Denver after having lost his job in Colorado Springs. The lawsuit, filed in April 2010, may lead to a six-day trial before 4th Judicial District Judge G. David Miller on Nov. 28, if the mediation process fails to help both parties reach a settlement.
The defendants’ lawyer, Steven D. Zansberg denied the allegations made against his clients, saying that their statement was regarding “matters of legitimate public interest and concern.” He also said that for Nguyen to extract damages, he would have to somehow prove that the statements made by his clients about him were made with full or partial awareness of their falseness. He also said that his clients had even gone to a great extent to “lawfully apprehend a fugitive pursuant to a valid warrant for his arrest.”