Mom By Day, Bounty Hunter By Night

Oct. 17, 2005 — -- By day, Sandra Scott is a stay-at-home mother of two. But after she kisses her husband and kids goodnight, she heads out for her second job as a bounty hunter tracking down fugitives.

"Bounty hunting is definitely an addiction for me," said Scott, 39. "It's the thrill of a chase. You know, if I'm not chasing a bargain and I'm not chasing a sale, I'm chasing a fugitive."

Scott has been bounty hunting for the past year, but got her start putting criminals behind bars when she was a teenager. When she was 14, Scott was attacked in a park near her house, and her testimony helped lock up the attacker. She later became a private investigator and then a bounty hunter.

"To be a great bounty hunter, you really have to have that sixth sense where you can size people up and read them, all in just a moment's notice," Scott said. "You have to be able to read body language."

Scott has the authority to arrest, an authority given to her by bail bondsmen who have custody of suspects they bailed out. But Scott is not a police officer.

"I've been into homes to arrest people where there's cocaine laid out on the coffee table and there's pot and I don't care about that stuff," Scott said. "That's not what I'm there for. I'm not the DEA, I'm not the cops and I'm not going to tell anybody. I just want the body, and I want the body in jail, because then I get paid."

So far, Scott has never been paid more than $800.

"I'm worried about her getting shot or stabbed or killed or something," Scott's husband, Ron Scott, said.

There are an estimated 1,200 bounty hunters in the United States. Not many are women and most work with at least one partner as protective backup.

"You never go alone. As a bounty hunter, you'd have to be crazy to go alone," Scott said. "But they (my family) also know that I can handle myself. Do they worry? Yes, they worry. But that's not going to stop me."