By CRAIG FREILICH

A private investigator from Colton, now inactive, says people who are thinking of going bounty hunting for the two escapees from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora should bone up on the law first.

The total reward of $100,000 for information that leads to the capture of convicted murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt is tempting, but there is a lot of misinformation around the laws governing “bounty hunting” and chasing bail jumpers, said Jon Sabin.

Providing information that leads to the arrest of the escapees is an entirely different matter than apprehending them, he notes.

“For instance a person needs to be a licensed private investigator (PI) or Bail Enforcement agent in NY to apprehend any person other than a Law Enforcement officer for cash or reward,” he wrote in an email message citing Article 7 of New York General Business Law.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers and many volunteers have been combing the area around the prison since Sweat and Matt escaped from the high-security section of Danemora June 6 in an elaborate and well planned operation involving cutting through steel walls and using drain and vent pipes to exit through a manhole outside the walls.

The prospect of collecting a big reward might be fueling dreams of riches and heroics among people who feel they might join the search.

The requirements for becoming a private investigator or a bail enforcement agent in New York are very difficult, he said. Meanwhile, celebrity bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman “is a convicted felon and he operates in states that licensing for fugitive hunting is not needed.”

Sabin said he is concerned that the reward for information that leads to the capture of the escaped inmates “may lead to persons saying they are coming to NY to hunt the fugitives when they cannot by law.

“This reward if increased may have many persons acting as Bounty Hunters to capture the fugitives,” he said.

“Bounty Hunting is illegal in Canada and Mexico too. It is considered kidnapping in those countries.

“Because the fugitives broke out of a NY State Prison that means the case originated in NY State and only NY State or Federal Law enforcement or licensed Bail Enforcement Agents or Private Investigators can apprehend the fugitives.”

Sabin says rather than trying to apprehend them, which police have warned against, citizens can report to a law enforcement officer “if they see the fugitives or have a tip. They do have a right to protect themselves,” but “No person has the right to hunt them to try to be a hero unless permitted to do so by law.”

Sabin refers people to New York Code, Article 7, “Private Investigators, Bail Enforcement Agents And Watch, Guard And Patrol Agencies,” for more information.