TOLEDO, Ohio — 79-year-old Army veteran Lowell Hemmelgarn makes sure to keep up with his west Toledo home.
On June 14, someone took notice.
"I was on the driveway here, pulling weeds between the cracks and this car comes up and a guy gets out and says 'excuse me, I could take care of them cracks for you,'" Hemmelgarn said.
You might recognize the person who was inside that truck: David S. Broadway, the same one WTOL 11 has told you about before.
Recently, 11 Investigates shared the story of Roger Bowers, a 91-year-old Air Force veteran who was charged $4,200 for a driveway job after being quoted $300 by Broadway.
Credit: WTOL 11
David S. Broadway, pictured during a court appearance in this file photo.
RELATED: 11 Investigates: Contractor accused of scamming elderly people since 2006
Broadway is accused of going door to door, offering home improvement services to senior citizens, but charging them thousands more than what was originally quoted.
"I told him 'well, I'll think about it,'" Hemmelgarn said. "He came back not even a half hour later and said 'well, what did you decide?'"
Lowell agreed. But then, without even discussing payment...
"Wife and I were eating and we heard a little noise and the crew, without knocking, started working on the back driveway," Hemmelgarn said.
Within an hour, the work was done.
"(Broadway) pulls out his calculator and says 'uh, this is going to be $6,800.' I said 'what?" Hemmelgarn said.
His son was home and argued the price down to $6,000. Broadway agreed to $6,000.
"David (Broadway) drove me to the bank, in his truck," Hemmelgarn said.
It was written out to David S. Broadway. $3,000 in cash and $3,000 through check.
"Only until later did I realize this is probably twice what I need to pay for this little bit of work they did," Hemmelgarn said.
Credit: WTOL 11
It was done only two months ago, and weeds are already starting to pop up.
"After all this happened, my boy said 'dad, you got ripped off,'" Hemmelgarn said.
When 11 Investigates looked up Broadway's business, National Paving, we came across Broadway's Asphalt, Paving, Sealcoating and Tree Service on the Better Business Bureau's website. Wouldn't you know, it matches David Broadway's northwest Ohio address.
There was a complaint, but this time in Greenville County, South Carolina.
In April 2020, a police report shows that Broadway came up to a 91-year-old woman's home and offered to trim her trees. He said he would charge her $85 an hour but ended up charging her $3,00 after the job was done.
He was identified in the police report by the tiger or panther tattoo on his neck.
Credit: WTOL 11
Broadway was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses and a Pesticide Control Act violation because he treated a tree for termites.
He was ordered by a judge to pay the woman back $2,500. It even states on the police report that officers are aware of past instances like this.
While looking into these new cases, WTOL 11 had a voicemail and missed call from David Broadway.
He called while the 11 Investigates team was on air, talking about him and our first story with Roger Bowers.
We called him back with information on how to contact 11 Investigates, but have not yet heard back.
Our team also called another person who knows Broadway, with hopes that others will tell him to call 11 Investigates; someone who has even been recognized as working with him.
For now, there's no explanation for why this keeps happening. Just a growing number of seniors all saying the same thing:
"I should have gotten a second estimate," Hemmelgarn said, echoing Bowers. "I screwed up."
What Broadway is allegedly doing is not only morally wrong; door-to-door solicitation like this is illegal.
The Green River Ordinance protects people from having door-to-door solicitations on private property when the seller is not invited by the buyer. After an agreement is signed for home improvement jobs like this, the buyer has three days to cancel under Ohio Law.
These jobs by Broadway were being done the same day and often done before any signed agreements.
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