ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 59-year-old Taft man was in jail Wednesday on accusations he pretended to be a contractor and scammed an 82-year-old Orange County woman out of $400.
Jackie Thomas Jr., of Taft, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after a resident in a neighborhood off Orange Blossom Trail called the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, investigators said.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 9 that Thomas had worked for her and done odd jobs around her house before, but now she believes he was just biding his time.
“He was waiting for the big time, when he could hit me with something bigger,” she said.
According to an arrest affidavit, Thomas told the woman that she had major squirrel damage on her roof and that he could fix it for $400.
The man even showed the homeowner a picture of the damage, which investigators say was taken at a different house, the affidavit said.
Thomas went up on the roof for about 35 minutes, came down and told her that the roof was fixed, the homeowner told Channel 9.
She was suspicious, but paid him anyway, she said.
“I was afraid not to pay him because at this time, I felt threatened by him,” she said.
A neighbor, Don Grooms, also told investigators that Thomas had offered to repair his roof as well, but he turned him down.
“I don’t usually hire anybody just coming down the street,” he said.
The woman who reported Thomas said a big part of why she did it was because she didn’t want other people to fall prey to this kind of scam.
“I just hope this is an example to some of these other people, that you just can’t trust these people,” she said.
Thomas faces three counts of theft from a person 65 or older.
He was being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $7,000.