Disturbing video shows the moment a group of armed bounty hunters rush to arrest a California man outside his home as his young children look on in horror.
Ricky Gory had just pulled into the driveway after picking his kids up from school when six bounty hunters stormed his car with their weapons drawn, according to ABC 7. The incident occurred just before 2:30 last Thursday in the metro San Bernardino city of Moreno Valley.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Gory was taken into custody shortly after the incident; he attempted to flee the scene before swerving and crashing into a tree.
The man’s children — ages 12, 9, 6, and 1 — watched in fear from inside the car as bail enforcement agents arrested their father. Amari Snell Moore, 12, described the harrowing scene in a video filmed on his phone: “The bounty hunter has his gun on his chest, [and] he is cussing at me, telling me, ‘Who else is in the f’ing house? Who else is in the car?’ “
“Don’t kill my daddy!” another child screams in the background.
The bounty hunters had reportedly been following Gory all day and made the arrest after he retrieved his children from school. Court records show he has previous non-violent offenses, including traffic tickets he failed to show up to court for.
Gory’s girlfriend, Brittany Snell, was outraged over the bounty hunters’ handling of the situation and called their behavior “barbaric” and very “unprofessional.”
She told ABC 7 there was absolutely no reason the takedown had to happen in the presence of their kids.
“I think he pretty much was trying to get his kids out of harm’s way,” Snell recalled. “Once he realized who they were, obviously you see in the video he didn’t resist.”
A teary-eyed Amari said he simply want his father “to come back” home.
Gory remains behind bars on a traffic warrant.
It was a mixed bag of reactions to the incident online with Gory garnering sympathy while others believed he was being irresponsible.
Watch more in the video below.
