http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/12/4225339/bounty-hunter-from-matthews-finds.html
ShareMonday, Aug. 12, 2013
Bounty hunter from Matthews finds place on ‘Airplane Repo’
Danny Thompson of Matthews had a chance to be on a TV show. He flew all over the country while filming a reality-type show on Discovery Channel called “Airplane Repo,” which premiered in the middle of July.
A new TV show aired last month, and a local guy is one of the cast.
Danny Thompson, a resident of Matthews and a bounty hunter – a professional bail enforcement agent – made a drastic career change. He sold his bail bonds business and took a chance to be on a TV show. He flew all over the country while filming a reality-type TV show called “Airplane Repo,” which premiered in the middle of July.
Filming went as far south as Florida and across the country to California; it was contingent on the location of the aircraft to be repossessed.
Ken Cage, the CEO of International Recovery Group, has completed more than 1,200 repossessions; Cage found Thompson for the position.
“He had heard about me and my bounty-hunter skills and my bodyguard experience,” Thompson said. “Ken needed some muscle behind these repos, and the Discovery Channel saw we would make a great team – especially now the stakes are higher with camera crews following us behind every repo.”
Thompson has 14 years of bounty hunting experience, where he tracked down suspects who skipped out on court-imposed bail. On the show, he is Cage’s bodyguard and also helps keep the camera crew safe.
Covered in tattoos, he’s intimidating at 5 feet, 10 inches and 260 pounds. A mixed martial arts fighter, he said he can bench-press 550 pounds and squat 620 pounds. Banks hire these repo men to repossess aircraft once the owners fall behind on their payments. It’s hard to imagine that someone wealthy enough to purchase an airplane doesn’t make their payments, but it happens. Many obstacles, oftentimes dangerous, get in their way.
With tight time constraints to carry out their tasks, the repo men may face violent owners or aircraft that are damaged and unsafe to fly. “Airplane Repo,” a one-hour series with 10 episodes, chronicles the process of repossessing these planes.
“There is no acting here. They let me be myself,” Thompson said. “What you see is what you get. That is me you are seeing, and I love what I do.
“I love being part of ‘Airplane Repo’ because there is never a dull moment … and that keeps me on my toes.”
“Airplane Repo” is produced for Discovery Channel by Undertow Films.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment