LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A Lake County couple says they are out thousands of dollars after hiring a contractor who took their money for a project but never did the work.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department issued a warrant for the man’s arrest.
Irene Simon, 82, says she hired a handyman to repair the skirting around the bottom of her home.
The work has now been completed by another company, but she says the original one ran off with her money.
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Simon says she found Florida Priority Home Solutions online and signed a contract to pay the company $3,000 for the job, with $1,500 upfront - $500 in cash and a $1,000 check.
“And he was supposed to hold off on cashing that check until the end of the month,” Simon told News 6.
She needed to give her Social Security check time to be deposited.
Instead, the owner of the company, Chad Heasley, went to Amscot in Leesburg early and cashed the check, according to Simon.
The account had insufficient funds, according to the incident report.
“Chad came to the house and he said that he needed to have a thousand dollars to pay back Amscot.”
She gave Heasley another $1,000 to pay back Amscot, but he never did, Simon said.
“He took the money and left,” she said.
When asked if she thought it was criminal, she said, “Of course, yes, it is.”
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Simon reported the incident to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which has now issued a warrant for Heasley’s arrest.
“So if he happens to be involved in a traffic stop or he comes in an encounter with law enforcement, then he would be arrested,” said Stephanie Early, a spokeswoman for the department.
News 6 did some digging and found Florida Priority Home Solutions is not registered with the state.
On the contract they signed, the address for Florida Priority Home Solutions is listed as 4421 College Drive in Orlando but when we went to the address, it’s an empty lot.
News 6 called the telephone number on the contract and got a generic voicemail.
We also went to an address in Poinciana to try and find Heasley but were told he has not lived there for more than a year.
If you have any information about Heasley, you’re asked to call the Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.