New Haven Bondsman Jason is well-known in the bail bonds world. Starting his bail career in the summer of 1995, he is one of the few who can truly tell the story of bail in the nineties. We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his experience in bail and what drew him to an industry highly scrutinized nationwide.

Starting as a Bondsman

Jason’s best friend Ty Brokaw started working for a bail business called B&B Bail Bonds which served the Hartford and Bridgeport areas mainly. When Jason received his license in 1995, he had a job lined up immediately. Ty offered Jason an opportunity to work posting bail running initially in the Bridgeport area.

He was successful helping so many people there that he ended up working in their busier office in Hartford. Throughout his career, he learned bail bonds fairly quickly, but most importantly; the team and his clients trusted him. “In the nineties, bail was the type of business with mostly cash transactions and it used to be a more dangerous industry with little regulation and therefore riskier,” Jason says. 

With little technology, bondsmen communicated through pagers and pay phones.

Clients in need of bail services would find their sizable signs and usually recognize the bonding business in a town. Another classic form of advertisement bondsmen used was running large ads on the phonebook.

The company he worked for coincidentally was located at 57 Fishfry Street in Hartford, which is where 3-D Bail Bonds is located today.

New Haven Bondsman Jason Starts All City Bail Bonds

All City Bail Bonds was born in 2001 with an office in Hamden, CT (New Haven County, and less than a mile from the New Haven City line). Recognized for working with people when they needed the most and for his 24/7 availability, Jason became “the” local New Haven Bondsman. At his agency, he served mostly all New Haven County jails, prisons, and courthouses. The company still exists today, under the umbrella of 3-D Bail Bonds, Inc. 

After getting close and personal with Jason about his bail career, we asked him to share his insights about crime and local bail processing.

Questions and Answers with Bondsman Jason

What is the most common crime you hear about in the New Haven area?

“In my opinion, the most common crime in New Haven, or anywhere, for that matter which usually requires a bond is for domestic violence charges which include violations of protective orders,” says Jason.

“These domestic charges are taken very seriously, and defendants are due in court on the next available court date. When a defendant is arrested and released on bond up until roughly 8:00 am, they are expected to attend court for their arraignment at 9:00 am. Failure to show up results in a rearrest warrant being issued for Failure to Appear.” As a New Haven Bondsman, Jason recommends paying close attention to given court dates as they’re the most important condition to remain free on bond.

What are some of the most common questions you get from clients?

The most common questions we get from a potential client are “how much do you charge?” and “where are you located?” Another is “how long until you can get here?”

How do you make bail more affordable to people?

When asked about the affordability of bail, Jason shares, “Bail with a surety bondsman is more affordable for many reasons. If you use the services of a New Haven bondsman, you pay between 7 percent and 10 percent of the face value of the bond.”

He explains the cost of bail with an example. “For instance, if the bond is $25,000 you pay the bail bondsman $1900.00. Your only other option is to pay the entire $25,000 to the State of Connecticut. With a payment plan upon approval, you could pay as little as $665.00 down and make weekly, biweekly, or monthly payments to pay off the balance.” “In the long term, the bail bonds company protects your investment by securing the person released on bail makes it to court.”

In a glimpse, when you don’t use a New Haven bail bondsman, and your loved one decides not to go to court, you could end up paying the entire bail yourself because you may not be able to bring the defendant back to court (or potentially face criminal charges yourself if you do).”

Would you post bail for someone who missed court?

New Haven Bondsman Jason says he would post bail for someone who missed court if he was comfortable with the reason for missing court. There are a few excuses he will accept including “I forgot.”

Local agent Jason speaks from almost 30 years of experience and goes on to share that “Believe it or not when I hear someone forgot their court date, to me that is acceptable because it happens. I also consider FTA (Failure to appear) bonds if the caller or defendant is honest and upfront. I will almost always post an FTA bond if the defendant who missed court wants to turn themselves in and calls before they do. If the defendant is willing to do the right thing and turn themselves in, I will be there to help.”

Turning yourself in (TSI) to the police with a bail bondsman is a quick process and is highly recommended when missing court. 3-D Bail Bonds New Haven process the payment and paperwork ahead of time and then the bondsman will go to the police department with the defendant and bond them out as soon as they are processed. Usually, individuals who turn themselves in with Jason, the New Haven Bondsman, will not even be placed in a cell, if they call him beforehand.

How do you assess whether someone will go to court or not?

“How I decide to post a bond for someone is usually a “Gut feeling.” I ask questions and have a screening process which helps but, in the end, we take a great monetary risk every time we bail someone out. I also use a tried and true 30-year-old written application with questions about the defendant.” Jason says these questions about their whereabouts, the charges, and where they are from create somewhat of an idea of who this person is.

Bondsman Jason closes with “Even knowing nothing is for sure, most of these questions help determine if the defendant would most likely come back to court, therefore we should post their bond. If the defendant is a lifelong Connecticut resident there is a very good chance I will agree to post their bail bond.”

As of now, Jason serves New Haven County and all of Connecticut. You can find him processing large bonds and kindly helping clients with their bail bond needs.

If a person needs the service of a Hamden or New Haven Bondsman, the best thing to do is to contact a reliable and trusted agency like 3-D Bail Bonds. The company has over 100 years of combined bail bond experience bringing expertise in the field. The team can answer any bail-related questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People are very comfortable when they call 3-D Bail Bonds and often praise Jason’s work and expertise. Learn more about our local New Haven area bail bondsman by visiting our website. 3-D Bail Agents are always on call ready to help. 

Contribution: Jason Fink