Editor's Note: This woman's account underscores the importance of using caution when dealing with strangers on the Internet. We have replaced the accused man and his niece's and friend's names with pseudonyms since no charges have been filed.
Dear editor,
This is a warning to all Crestview residents. I wired $300 to "Brady Jackson" (costing me fees of $24 and $8) so he could rent a van and drive me to Crestview for relocation.
He received the money and deposited it in his account. He then paid for a rental and apparently insured the car — not a van — for a lot. He arrived four and a half hours after my storage closed and told me to unload my suitcases and pare down. This was 10:30 p.m. on May 8.
I lost nearly everything.
He drove me and my daughter to his father's house in Broward. He smoked marijuana with his niece, Darlene, while I was in the car. Darlene then began hitting the hood with a golf club. He used my phone to call 911 three times.
We then left and he drove us to Crestview, where he tried to dump us off at a despicable shack on Savage Street.
He wanted to use the car for another trip and tried to take off. I said I was not staying there. He then said he'd drive me to his friend Rebecca's Aplin Road apartment. She said he told her he was planning on relocating to Miami and he was going to be gone four to five days, not two.
He then tried to run off with the car, and threatened to run me over if I didn't get out of the way.
I called the police as I stood there and refused to move. The police came and he let out a self-righteous tirade about me. They told him to drive back to his "house" and let me get my possessions, which he had reduced from seven suitcases and boxes to white garbage bags.
He told police he would drive me to Fort Walton, where I could get the Greyhound back to Miami. He, instead, put the windows up and turned on loud, erratic music and railed at me, saying if the police gave him citations for his property, he was going to drive me somewhere and kill me.
He then drove to a gas station and opened the car door of the small white Kia Rio and handed me a gas card and ordered me to put $10 on it. I left the door open, which infuriated him. He drove away with my daughter in the back seat and stopped on the side of the gas station and told my daughter to get out. She refused. All our things were in the car.
I called the police again. They had him get out of the car.
He drove off after releasing my things, which were now a shambles on the ground.
The police called a taxi to take me to Fort Walton Beach. I had to pay hundreds of dollars to get back to Miami.
I went on Craigslist and found he was advertising under ride-share programs.
Since then, I received a voicemail telling me he was " sorry" and trying to get me to sign insurance papers so he can get the deposit back, which he claims he'll give me — when donkeys fly!
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Crestview residents, be careful with ride-share programs