Over the previous couple of years, Fb and Craigslist adverts for a 50-acre non-public looking lease in London, Arkansas caught the eye of dozens of hunters within the space. Lots 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 Facet experiences.
“Very first query I requested [Dawson] was: ‘If I lease this, is that this going to be simply me-and who I say-hunting?’ And naturally he says ‘yeah’,” Arkansas hunter Daniel Smith tells 7OYS. “Once I rise up right here a man comes out right here once I’m placing out corn and says, ‘I’m fixing to lease this and lock this gate’ and I’m like ‘properly, I’ve 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 telephone and places him on speaker telephone and asks him about it and naturally he hangs up and says we’re a liar,” Smith recollects. “I confirmed the opposite man the contract.”
Different hunters confirmed with 7OYS that they’d 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 notice taped on the gate to the property, making an attempt to warn different hunters who would possibly present as much as hunt the land.
“My title is Steve Rigdon. I’ve [leased] this land together with 20 different folks. Please name me.”
Rigdon encountered Dawson on the gate in the future. He tried to dam him in and known as the police, however Dawson received round him. Rigdon stuffed out a press release 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 cash again. That is about him being stopped so he don’t preserve doing this to different folks,” Rigdon says. “We is perhaps hillbillies however we’re not silly.”
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. Whereas it’s unconfirmed in the event that they’re the identical man, his mugshot is a detailed match to a Fb profile image for a person who was in a relationship with a Cindy Simpson, whose title 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 “begin inflicting issues.” Ultimately, he gave 7YOS his categorical (and pointless) permission to publish their story.
“Please go forward and run it,” he mentioned. “Make me wealthy.”
