WSMV Channel 4 Bonding company uses billboards to catch crooks jumping bail

Bonding company uses billboards to catch crooks jumping bail

Posted: Updated:
Posted by Larry Flowers - email
MURFREESBORO, TN (WSMV) -

A bonding company in Murfreesboro is turning to billboards to catch crooks. Free At Last Bonding is trying a new approach that will leave bail jumpers' faces for everyone to see.

It's hard not to miss Geoffrey 'Alex' Shockley's face plastered near one of the busiest intersections in Murfreesboro - Broad Street and Old Fort Parkway.

"We will do whatever it takes to bring you back to justice," said Free At Last Bonding co-owner Greg Sanford.

Shockley had snubbed his nose at the court system and didn't show up for his Sept. 7, 2011 court date. Now he's the star of his very own billboard for jumping bail.

And late Friday, Shockley was apprehended by officers in California who were acting on a tip spawned by the Murfreesboro billboard.

He faces six felony counts of possessing methamphetamines and prescription drugs. Free At Last Bonding wrote his $28,000 bond and he paid $2,800 to get out of jail.

"We guarantee to the court that they will show up for court, and if they don't we have to pay the full amount, $28,000," Sanford said.

Free At Last had been offering a $5,000 reward to find Shockley.

"Not too long ago we tracked Mr. Shockley and his girlfriend, Brittany, to Atlanta, Washington DC, Colorado, Michigan, California, Oregon, and back to California," Sanford said.

No he has been captured, it could cost thousands of dollars and several more weeks to extradite him. That's why the Rutherford County District Attorney General was hesitant to add him to NCIC, a national crime database. But the bonding company convinced him they will pay the price to bring him back to Tennessee.

"Free At Last would absorb 100 percent of that cost, which could save taxpayers all that money," Sanford said.

Since Free At Last Bonding has been in business, the company has only had to pay the full bond amount for a couple of people. Owners said with this new billboard approach, it's only a matter of time before Geoffrey Shockley will be free no more.

This is just the first billboard of many more to come. Other bail jumpers could be featured as well, not just in Murfreesboro, but throughout Middle Tennessee, according to Free At Last Bonding owners.

Copyright 2012 WSMV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.