Duane “Dog” Chapman makes his living as a bail bondsman catching criminals who are breaking the terms of their release. One person he won’t have to track down is his stepdaughter Nicole, who is safely in police custody after she allegedly robbed Territorial Savings Bank in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii on Monday.

A report suggests that 35-year-old Nicole Gillespie allegedly walked into the bank around 8 o’clock in the morning on September 3rd and handed the teller a note listing her demands, after which she fled on foot. Dog and his wife Beth released a statement about the incident:

“It's always difficult and disheartening when someone you knew as a child grows up and chooses a life of crime. That is the case with Nicole Gillespie, who has been accused of robbing the Territorial Savings Bank on Bishop Street on September 3rd. We have not seen "Nickie" in over 10 years. Watching her on Crimestoppers left us all shocked and heart broken.”

Now before we all go smirking at the irony in having a bounty hunter’s stepdaughter facing legal troubles, let’s all give the girl a chance to turn her life around. Dog himself did it on more than one occasion.

Believe it or not, the long blonde hair, cool glasses and even keel demeanour of America’s most famous bounty hunter hasn’t always been on the right side of the law. Way back in 1976, Dog Chapman was convicted on murder charges in Texas. He was sentenced to five years in jail but ended up being granted parole after 18 months. To this day, he’s still not allowed to enter the United Kingdom because of his criminal record.

Chapman has also been at the mercy of the court of public opinion before too. In 2007, a tape of him using racial slurs in an angry tirade circulated. And yet through all of his trials and tribulations, he still manages to be a very popular reality star, helping criminals change their lives around.

Maybe he can help Nicole change things around too. The Chapman family, Nicole and the Territorial Savings Bank can only hope so. Only time will tell.

For now, we ask the obvious question…if she needed money that badly, why didn’t she join the family business and make money chasing bad guys instead of allegedly robbing a bank? Her step siblings seem to be doing okay at it.