3 Mo. bail bondsmen charged with assault

MEXICO, Mo. (AP) - Three central Missouri bail bondsmen are accused of assaulting a fugitive they were trying to apprehend for failing to appear in court on several warrants.

The Audrain County Sheriff's Department says the bail bondsmen, Thomas George Jones, of Mexico, Mo.; Steven L. Weber, of Fulton, and John E. Downing of California, Mo., are charged with second-degree assault. Downing's also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree assault.

They were charged after John Holsman, of Fulton, reported Friday that the bail bondsmen chased him into a restaurant restroom and beat him. Holsman was being sought on warrants of stealing, tampering and other charges. He was treated at a hospital and released to the sheriff's department.

Jones and Weber are being held on $20,000 bond, and Downing's bond is $50,000.

Editor's note: An AP story posted earlier online and in Tuesday's News Tribune and Fulton Sun incorrectly stated Jerry Holsman of Fulton was charged. The man charged was actually John Holsman.