BELLA VISTA -- Police are seeking to arrest four people in connection with scamming thousands of dollars from elderly people.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Adam Houston, 35, of Reeds, Mo.; Shannon Myers, 43, of Carthage, Mo.; Makayla Houston, 32, of Jasper, Mo.; and LeRoy Ellis Stark III, 31, of Pine Bluff, according to a news release from Cassi Lapp, spokeswoman for the city of Bella Vista. The four are wanted on charges of theft of property and abuse of an endangered or impaired person.
These four suspects are known for operating deceptive business practices in the four-state area, including northeast Oklahoma, southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri, according to the press release.
Several incidents were reported in Bella Vista in June involving the four scamming elderly residents out of money for work done on their homes that was unnecessary or incomplete, according to the release. Two of four would show up to a residence in most cases and offer to do work, such as driveway resurfacing, yard work or roof cleaning, according to the release.
They would then either be paid upfront and never return or pretend to perform such work and find other jobs they said needed done, such as chimney cleaning, the release states.
All victims in these recently reported cases were over the age of 70, according to the release.
One case involved an elderly man with dementia. He paid them $81,000 in multiple installments in February to cut a few trees, paint a small deck and for a small amount of concrete work, the release states. Detectives approached reputable contractors to compare the actual costs of the projects and received estimates totaling $7,000.
Several other people also reported being scammed after hiring the suspects to do work, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Two people reported they both paid several hundred dollars for their driveways to be repaired, but the materials placed on the driveways soon washed away, according to the affidavit.
Police went by one residence to see a driveway and saw what looked like baby powder on the driveway, according to the affidavit.
Houston pleaded guilty in 2019 in Jasper County, Mo., to deceptive business practices and was ordered to refrain from entering into any contract with elderly individuals, according to the release.
Bella Vista police detectives urge residents to be leery of anyone showing up offering to do work at a residence, especially if the work seems unnecessary, like sealing a roof.
Lapp said police do not yet have information of the four's whereabouts.
"They move around a lot and move to another area when the attention gets on them," Lapp said. "That's what they do."
Anyone with information about the case can call Bella Vista police at 479-855-3771.
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Source: City of Bella Vista