Dog The Bounty Hunter’s Son Leland Chapman Hospitalized Weeks After Death Of His Stepmom, Beth

Leland Chapman, the son of Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman, was hospitalized in Colorado this week, just weeks after his stepmother, Beth Champan, died following a long illness, AL.com reports.

Leland, 42, and his Dad, were in Colorado at the time, hunting down fugitive Edward Morales. Morales had pleaded guilty to harassment in June, but had apparently failed to appear at a hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Leland and Duane and their team tracked Morales down and attempted to bring him into custody. There was a struggle, and during the fracas, Leland tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a key structure in his knee.

Leland went home to Athens, Alabama, where he lives, in order to have surgery on his knee; Morales, for his part, was taken downtown.

Unfortunately for Leland, the ACL tear means that he’s out of commission for about six weeks, according to Yahoo News.

Leland’s injury comes as the family is preparing to host a memorial service for Beth in Colorado. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Chapman family has planned a memorial for the family matriarch, who died June 26 at the age of 51 after a long battle with cancer. The service will be held on July 13. This is to be the second memorial service for Beth; the first was held in Hawaii, but the remote location made it hard for many fans to come. The second one will be easier for them to attend. And, the family has a Colorado connection: Beth was born there, and in Beth’s later years, the family split their time between Hawaii and Colorado.

Leland Chapman, the son of reality show star Dog the Bounty Hunter, will be out of action for six weeks due to an injury sustained while chasing a fugitive. https://t.co/XnlkGMYo26 pic.twitter.com/owVdfE8l0b

— AL.com (@aldotcom) July 10, 2019

Beth died just as WGN America was preparing to show a new series, Dog’s Most Wanted, featuring Duane, Beth, and their crew hunting down fugitives. Before Beth’s death, the network hadn’t announced when the show would air. It is still not clear when it will hit airwaves, according to Entertainment Tonight, but the show is still planned to run. Duane said that it’s not clear how much Beth will be in it, however.

“I’ve already looked at some of [the footage involving Beth], OK, and I see her and I hear her and I freaking start bawling ’cause it happened,” he said.

As it turns out, a WGN America camera crew was present when Leland suffered his injury taking down Morales. It remains unclear if that footage will make it into an upcoming episode of Dog’s Most Wanted, and if it does, when that episode will air.