DENVER — Asialene Montoya was technically on the run after missing a sentencing hearing that would have put her in prison.
But on a December night last year, she was begging for the police to come and take her. She would later find herself in jail, but only after a weeks-long stint in the infirmary.
Montoya was contacted by bounty hunter William Holland, 43, who was paid to find her by a bail bondsman for absconding on bond, according to investigators. However, what investigators believe happened after Holland and another woman found Montoya would lead to Holland facing criminal charges – something that has happened to him before.
“I would rather go with the cops no matter what was happening,” Montoya told Denver7 Investigates from the Arapahoe County Jail. “I was like, ‘Call 911,’ because I was scared of them.”
Holland has a criminal history and has faced charges in the past. In this case, he’s charged with second-degree assault, causing serious bodily injury.
He’s one of multiple bounty hunters Denver7 Investigates has looked into who have been charged with crimes they committed while bounty hunting. However, a lack of regulation in the industry in Colorado means nothing prevents bondsmen from hiring them.
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“We call Colorado one of a handful of ‘Wild West states,’” said Jeff Clayton, executive director of The American Bail Coalition, a bail advocacy group. “Bail agents can just go out and hire whoever they want with no state oversight or oversight whatsoever.”
In Montoya’s case, documents reveal Holland found her just after 1 a.m. at a Denver apartment complex. The encounter was captured on video by a neighbor. In it, Montoya can be seen on the ground, shackled and screaming for help.
Also in the 20-minute video is Montoya sitting in a truck while the person who investigators believe is Holland – wearing a black jacket that says “bail bonds” on the back – kicking the door and yells at her to get out.
Later, he appears to use a stun gun on her multiple times.
“I thought I was getting kidnapped. I didn't know. I couldn't imagine why,” Montoya said.
During the incident, Montoya suffered broken bones and a dislocated elbow. She needed surgery to repair some of the damage.
“I think there was so much adrenaline going on, I don't know where the pain was coming from. I kind of felt my arm dislocate,” she said.
Denver police were called during the incident, and Holland’s affidavit states that officers arrived after a report of an attempted kidnapping. It states that officers left after telling Holland to release Montoya. He ignored that order, according to investigators.
Holland was arrested roughly a month after the night he picked up Montoya. He’s currently out on bond while the case moves forward. His next hearing is slated for May 20.
Criminal history
Court records show a history of activity involving the 43-year-old bounty hunter. On the night when police say he picked up Montoya, he was awaiting trial in Arapahoe County, where he faced multiple counts of kidnapping from a 2021 incident that involved a victim he was bounty hunting.
He was acquitted of those charges in March but has several other convictions on his record, including felony theft in Maryland and impersonating a peace officer in Arapahoe County.
Denver7 Investigates previously highlighted a different bounty hunter, Jesse Wagner, who was facing roughly a dozen counts related to a Jefferson County case in 2023, including kidnapping and unlawful sexual contact.
Earlier this year, he accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to two charges – illegal use of a stun gun and possession of a weapon by a previous offender. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
However, Wagner has a lengthy criminal history in California and was facing charges in the San Diego area at the time of his plea deal. He also had several previous convictions in the state, including for crimes committed while bounty hunting.
The victim in Wagner's Jefferson County case spoke to Denver7 Investigates anonymously and said she thought jail would be safer than being around Wagner.
Lack of regulation
Due to Colorado’s lack of industry regulation, bondsmen can easily hire people like Holland and Wagner.
“Just to say that we have people that have power conferred by the state of Colorado to arrest people with no licensure and training, to me, should be alarming to every citizen of the state of Colorado,” Clayton said.
Katie O’Donnell, a spokesperson with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), said the state did have regulations at one point, but not in the past several years.
DORA oversees the state’s Division of Insurance, which oversees bail bonding.
In 2011, Colorado’s Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform (COPRRR), gave a review to the state’s general assembly recommending “repealing the requirement that prior to compensating a bail recovery agent, a bail agent must reconfirm that the recovery agent is qualified.”
Those qualifications included passing a fingerprinted background check and taking certified training.
That recommendation stuck, and the law changed in 2012.
“There’s not an enforcement component if there’s not a statutory oversight,” O’Donnell said.
The state took another look at things in 2014 but did not make any changes.
O’Donnell said it would take a legislative change to get any regulation on the books for bounty hunters.
It’s something Clayton believes is overdue for the state of Colorado.
“I think it's time for the department to take another look at this. And I think it's time for the legislature to take another look at this,” he said.
Montoya is currently serving her sentence for her identity theft conviction but is still carrying the trauma from that night.
“I get very emotional. It was scary. I'm still going through the process of healing from everything that they did,” she said. “It was a horrible experience, and I want to make sure that it doesn't happen to anybody ever again.”
Denver7 Investigates made multiple attempts to contact Holland, including reaching out to the attorney listed on recent court records for this case. That attorney would not confirm or deny his involvement in this case.
