Collateral Repossession Agent Shot to Death in Alabama
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The Repo Man (Collateral Recovery and Repossession Professionals) is often cussed at, screamed at, spit on, punched, kicked and generally not liked by most debtors. Absolutely NOTHING justifies what happened to a Birmingham, Alabama collateral recovery specialist early this morning.
The Birmingham Police Department has reported that a brother of a car owner took the life of 28 year old Jason Lee McLendon at approximately 2:00 am on January 8, 2009. Jason McLendon was shot and killed while doing his job repossessing a Cadillac sedan.
As Jason McLendon and his partner backed up their company tow truck, the vehicle owner approached them both and asked what was going on. He proceeded to tell McLendon that he just made a payment on the vehicle. Soon after the conversation, a brother of the vehicle owner came out with a rifle.
After the rifle was brandished, McLendon and his partner got into their truck and attempted to drive away from the scene considering their safety. As they were leaving the brother of the vehicle owner fired the rifle and the bullet hit Jason McLendon in the back of his head while he was driving. It has been reported that McLendon’s partner was unharmed.
The shooter has already turned himself in to authorities and has stated that he did not intend to shoot Jason McLendon; saying that he was only trying to fire a “warning shot.”
I have the utmost respect for men and women in the collateral repossession industry. It can be such an incredibly hard and frustrating job; in today’s economic times I can’t even imagine dealing with so many irate debtors on a daily basis. Violence towards these individuals is rare but it does happen. I hope that justice will prevail in this case.
Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of Jason McLendon from those of us here at Pursuit Magazine.
You’re correct, violence of this nature is rare. In 12 years performing repossessions I have never been met with violence. Probably because I approach the debtor and let them know what I am doing. Not justifying what occurred with Jason, but many times when there is a lag between the assignment and the actual repossession, sometimes 4 weeks or more , the debtor has already cures the default and the client fails to notify the repossession agent of the cure then violence can escalate. All states have laws that reads that you cannot breach the peace to repossess a vehicle. The slightest resistance and the agent or agents must leave immediately. In this case, if the default by the debtor had been cured but the client failed to notify the agents, them the debtor was protecting their property. Doesn’t make it right but I’ve put the debtor and the client on the phone with each other, even at 2am. Just my two cents on the matter.
Kirk Menard
Advanced Investigative Technologies, LLC