Over the previous couple of years, Facebook and Craigslist advertisements for a 50-acre personal looking lease in London, Arkansas caught the eye of dozens of hunters within the space. Many of them paid a person named Dion Dawson lots of of {dollars} for unique entry to the plot. Now they are saying they’ve been scammed after discovering the entry was something however unique, KATV’s 7 On Your Side experiences.
“Very first question I asked [Dawson] was: ‘If I lease this, is this going to be just me-and who I say-hunting?’ And of course he says ‘yeah’,” Arkansas hunter Daniel Smith tells 7OYS. “When I get up here a guy comes out here when I’m putting out corn and says, ‘I’m fixing to lease this and lock this gate’ and I’m like ‘well, I have already leased it.’”
It was round that point Smith and the opposite hunter realized one thing unusual was occurring.
“So, he calls [Dawson] on the phone and puts him on speaker phone and asks him about it and of course he hangs up and says we’re a liar,” Smith remembers. “I showed the other guy the contract.”
Other hunters confirmed with 7OYS that that they had additionally paid Dawson. London resident Steve Rigdon paid $800 for 2 years however says nobody hunts the property due to the security hazard. He left a sandwich bag with a observe taped on the gate to the property, attempting to warn different hunters who may present as much as hunt the land.
“My name is Steve Rigdon. I have [leased] this land along with 20 other people. Please call me.”
Rigdon encountered Dawson on the gate someday. He tried to dam him in and known as the police, however Dawson obtained round him. Rigdon crammed out an announcement with the police, however breach of contract shouldn’t be trigger for arrest and is often solved with a lawsuit as an alternative.
“This isn’t about getting the money back. This is about him being stopped so he don’t keep doing this to other people,” Rigdon says. “We might be hillbillies but we’re not stupid.”
An Arkansas man named Dion Dawson pled responsible to felony forgery in September 2014 after being accused of stealing checks from mailboxes and “washing them,” or erasing sure particulars to allow them to be issued fraudulently to different folks. While it’s unconfirmed in the event that they’re the identical man, his mugshot is a detailed match to a Facebook profile image for a person who was in a relationship with a Cindy Simpson, whose identify was additionally on Daniel Smith’s lease.
7OYS tracked down Dawson at a Motel 6 in Russellville, Arkansas the place he threatened to name the police on the investigative staff. He began sending the staff emails threatening to “start causing problems.” Eventually, he gave 7YOS his categorical (and pointless) permission to publish their story.
“Please go ahead and run it,” he stated. “Make me rich.”