AUGUSTA — A miscommunication between city police and a private bail bond recovery agency led to a group of police officers mistakenly descending on Mount Vernon Avenue early Tuesday morning.

That private agency, the Northeast Fugitive Recovery Taskforce, was attempting to serve a civil warrant to a man who lives in Augusta and allegedly had failed to fulfill a bail agreement in Connecticut.

The group requested that an officer be present Tuesday morning to “keep the peace” while it searched for the man, said Lt. Kevin Lully, of the Augusta Police Department.

At first, police thought that Northeast Fugitive Recovery Taskforce was a law enforcement agency, and officers were planning to help with the search, Lully said. City police frequently help task forces made up of other law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes, such as drunken driving or drug trafficking.

But after two officers, along with a member of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office who had a police dog, went to the scene Tuesday, Lully also arrived and determined that the Northeast Fugitive Recovery Taskforce was not law enforcement.

Rather, it’s a private company that was executing a civil warrant that had been issued by a Connecticut court. At that point, Lully called police away from the scene. Officers first went to the scene at 50 Mount Vernon Ave. around 7 a.m. Tuesday, then left by 8 a.m.

“We had what looks like a miscommunication on our end,” Lully said. “We’re not allowed to be involved in the execution of a civil warrant.”

Lully declined to identify the man whom the Northeast Fugitive Recovery Taskforce was trying to locate, noting that he hasn’t been charged with a crime. The group told police that he had “jumped bail,” according to Lully, who didn’t offer any more information about the allegations.

Police did perform a background check on the man, which showed no active criminal warrants, Lully added.

According to Lully, police also received notification that the company would be in Augusta on Monday night, but that notification came from a different company, called Affordable Bail, of Connecticut.

“That was not disseminated to everyone,” Lully said.

Representatives from the Northeast Fugitive Recovery Taskforce, which appears to be based in Vermont, didn’t respond to an email or phone call Monday seeking information.

According to its website, the group helps bail bondsmen track down fugitives and employs agents from different backgrounds, including the correctional system and the military.

“We are a full service Fugitive Recovery Company,” the website states. “A fugitive recovery agent is a person who apprehends fugitives in exchange for payment. If a defendant fails to show up for a court appearance, he is then considered a fugitive. When this happens, the bail bond company will hire a FRA to recover the fugitive.”

The website also notes that the term “bounty hunter,” as some agents are called, is “more derogatory.”

After local police left the scene on Mount Vernon Avenue on Tuesday morning, Lully heard from the company later in the day, he said. It still had not found the man.

Charles Eichacker — 621-5642

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @ceichacker

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