BEDFORD – A Spencer man was arrested on a warrant Thursday charging him with theft, fraud, and home improvement charges.
Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested 40-year-old Dustin Gadd.
According to a probable cause affidavit, on July 24, 2020, detectives responded to the 10 block of Teddy Bird Lane on a fraud complaint.
The homeowner reported he had contacted Gadd on July 7, 2020 to work on his home after finding Gadd’s Craigslist ad.
Gadd went to the man’s home on July 9, 2020 and was hired to take down and rebuild a new deck and install two doors to the entry to the deck.
The two entered a contract. The total cost of the job was quoted as $1,300. Gabb requested $600 down to start the work and he would start the next day on July 10, 2020. Once he had the money he told the homeowner he couldn’t start until July 11, 2020.
Gadd never showed up on July 11.
The homeowner contacted Gadd and he said his son had been in an accident and was in the hospital. He said he would be there on the following Monday.
Again, Gadd did not show up.
Gadd told the homeowner’s daughter that his son had cancer and he had to take him to chemotherapy.
The family continued to contact Gadd over the next few days and he would always say he would come the next day, but never arrived.
On July 17, 2020 the daughter again attempted to contact Gadd but he would not answer the phone. She finally texted him and requested he either do the job, return the money or they would proceed with legal action. The family did not receive a reply.
On July 20, 2020 the daughter again texted Gadd to return the money. Gadd simply replied “I can” and she received no other contact from him.
Gadd then contacted the daughter requesting more money for materials and said he would have the job finished by July 25, 2020.
The family did not give Gadd anymore money.
On October 20, 2020, police contacted Gadd by phone. They received no answer and could not leave a voice message because Gadd’s mailbox was full.
On November 2, 2020 police attempted to contact Gadd via telephone, again the same thing happened with no answer and the mailbox was full.
Detectives then contacted Bloomington Police Department and learned they were investigating several home improvement fraud cases involving Gadd.
They then learned Gabb was currently incarcerated in the Monroe County Jail.
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office and a warrant was issued for Gabb’s arrest.
