$50.00 Housewash, worse than a low baller.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Man pleads innocent to theft, scamming elderly. Police charge Georgia man in pressure wash scam

A 52-year-old man accused of participating in a flim-flam operation that swindled some $2,000 from an elderly Columbus man was arrested Saturday on outstanding warrants for forgery and felony theft by taking.

Columbus police say J.D. Jackson of Apollo Drive was part of a group of men who offered to pressure wash the 76-year-old man's home, which ended up costing him $2,050 for some 15 minutes worth of work.

Jackson, who was charged during a Wednesday Recorder's Court hearing with first-degree forgery and felony theft by taking, pleaded innocent to the charges and remained held Wednesday night on $5,000 bond at the Muscogee County Jail.

On Jan. 8, Jackson, along with at least two other men, knocked on the door of the elderly man's Buckeye Way home and offered to wash his home with a pressure washer, said Police Detective Keith Slay. The homeowner told police he agreed to pay for the services and settled on a price of $50.

Slay testified that within 10 minutes, the "foreman" of the group appeared at the man's door and asked for a drink of water for his crew. A few minutes passed and the men announced that they were finished with the job, Slay said.

When the homeowner handed over $50 in cash, the men said they could only take checks.

Within hours, the homeowner discovered that the check that he had made out for $50 was later altered and cashed for $2,050. Slay testified to a bank photograph showing Jackson cashing the check at a Columbus Bank & Trust bank branch, along with a copy of his thumbprint on his check.

Slay said Jackson was wanted in other jurisdictions in the state for running a similar operation. The case remains under investigation.

[Paul B. 523]

The moral of the story is:

If the price seems to be too good to be true, it most likely is!

[Mike Hughes 18]

Either that, or ........pay cash.

[One Call Power Wash 500]

It seems to me the homeowner should have been a little smarter than that. Ask yourself this, forget about being in the business, would you not have questioned a 15 minute house wash ? I would have. Unless this guy lived in a shoe box. Not to mention, not taking cash ? Who does not take cash ? Why would you not take cash ?

76 years old ? Maybe someone should be in a Nursing Care Facility.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

These types of scams usually prey on the elderly. I have heard of some where they followed people home from the doctors office after watching them refill their prescriptions, and knowing that the people would be an easy catch. And others are just gullible.

[RyanH 14]

I thought scam artists were typically more on the intelligent side. Why would you pass a forged check AND give your fingerprint???

I would, at the least, pay any of the 8-dozen bums on the interstate exit ramps (around here) $100 to go in and cash it for me.

Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist. Georgia continuously gets hammered for having the lowest SAT scores in the country, then somebody has to come along and do this to validate the claim. The Alabama-ns must be laughing it up right now

;) .

I just hope this doesn't get around, or I hope that the intelligent people to whom *I* advertise realize that this is not typical of pressure washers.

BTW, I wore shorts for the first time this year this past weekend. Sunny, beautiful skies, temps in the 60s. This morning, I awoke to snow on the ground. With jobs beginning in less than two weeks, I hope something normalizes!!

Ryan H.