From Biker Gangs to Bounty Hunting: Dog the Bounty Hunter Shares His Journey to Faith
By Movieguide® Contributor
Daune Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, is opening up about his road to faith in his new memoir, Nine Lives and Counting.
Chapman recently told Eric Metaxes on his radio show that he was raised by an abusive alcoholic father and a mother who was a preacher in the Assemblies of God denomination.
To stop the abuse, Chapman pulled a knife on his dad when he was 13. He left home, dropped out of school and joined a biker gang called “The Devil’s Disciples.” He said that he was “demon-oppressed” at the time.
“I wasn’t completely turning my back on God, just three-quarters of the way,” he said, adding that he always prayed before he ate.
The gang leader gave him the name “Dog” because it’s God spelled backwards and Chapman was “always talking about God.”
When Chapman had his first child at 16, he held the baby up and told God, “I dedicate this baby to you.”
“I still had God inside me,” the father of 13 said, even though he was engaging in sinful activities.
Chapman went to prison when a robbery attempt went wrong, and one of the gang members died from a gunshot wound.
There, he met a prison chaplain who asked if his name was “God spelled backwards.”
READ MORE: HOW JESUS MET DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER IN PRISON
“How did you know that?” Chapman asked.
He didn’t get an answer, but the chaplain told him that would pray that his bond would get lowered, and the next day, it did.
Because it got reduced, Chapman was able to get out of jail and found a job as a church janitor.
“I’m so sorry that I did this; please help me,” he told God when he got the job. Chapman was found guilty of murder and received only a five-year sentence.
He said he used his time in prison to get closer to God, and while he tried to keep his faith secret to avoid hostility from other prisoners, he did perform an exorcism on one of the inmates. Eventually, he became the warden’s barber and got out of jail early.
He decided to become a bounty hunter. When asked why, his reply is just “God.”
Chapman’s reality show, DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER, ran on A&E for eight seasons.
In 2007, Chapman recalled a pivotal moment in jail that inspired him to be a bounty hunter.
“One guy went to break and run…and I jumped him and just — the guard[s] were going to shoot him in the back. And as the guard walked up when I was on top of the inmate apprehending him…he said, ‘Hook him up, bounty hunter,’” Chapman said. A judge who heard of the incident also encouraged him to pursue that route, and the rest is history.
READ MORE: DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER SAYS MOM’S PRAYERS SAVED HIS LIFE: ‘DON’T QUIT PRAYING’
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