YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Over the last couple of years, 21 News has tried to put a face on the heroin epidemic running rampant through our valley. The drug is killing people at an alarming rate, and tearing families apart. We're now getting a view of this devastating addiction you haven't seen - through the eyes of a bounty hunter.

"Heroin is the probably the worst I've ever seen," says Tom Cimmento, President of All American Big Bob's Bail Bonding in Youngstown.

Cimmento says business has probably tripled in the last three years because of the heroin epidemic.

 Just recently, his bail bondsman have started wearing GoPro cameras during their fugitive recoveries of addicts who failed to show up to their court appearance. 

"It's getting worse, it's worse and worse. It's all we every see anymore," says Cimmento.

The bondsman say they are probably out 3 to 4 nights a week hunting down addicts.

The video is giving people an up close look at just how devastating the addiction can be for users and their families. 

"I mean, we've gone into places where some of these people still have a needle hanging in their arm," says Chip Chappell, Vice President of All American Big Bob's Bail Bonding.

"Your heart really goes out to the kids," says John Bates, Operations Manager for All American Big Bob's Bail Bonding. "It's terrible to see children living in these conditions their living in."

"You see the children running around standing in the back room and then your looking at syringes on the floor, your looking at just feces, dirty, it's horrendous," says Cimmento.

Agents say their biggest clientele of heroin fugitives are females.

"It seems to be the biggest attack, females, white females, but it shows no mercy. It hits people from the upper echelon, you know what I mean, economic, upper status to lower status," says Cimmento.

Bates says he's had to break the news to many families about their loved ones heroin addiction.

"I have come down here at 3-4 in the morning and I've had parents sit on this couch, no idea that this is what's going on and a drug problem can just absolutely rip a family apart and I've, we've, seen people on their worst day here," says Bates.

"We just had someone the other day, the father wiped out his entire pension plan and retirement to put his son into rehab. It's a horrible, horrible thing," says Cimmento.

"I've never seen nothing like it, the drugs just out there killing these people, Od'ing on this and it's getting really out of control," says Chappell.
The bondsman say these fugitives aren't running because of jail or court. They're running from the detox. If they go to jail, they know they will go through withdrawals and they are too scared of it.