A veteran and his family are out of thousands of dollars after a paving contractor never finished the job.
The contractor was hired to resurface the driveway, so that the 88-year-old could easily come in and out of his home, but the contractor took the money and ran.
The family is hoping no one else becomes a victim of this contractor’s scheme, but also now needs help completing the job, so that their elderly grandfather can get around.
A big pile of gravel is what covers the driveway of 88-year-old, Korean War Veteran Lorenzo Covington’s home. His grandson paid Huntsville Paving and Concrete $5,500 to resurface it.
“There was a very small amount of work done and he hasn’t heard from him since,” explained Ty Oswald, President of Bearded Warriors.
The owner of the paving company, Max Mitchell did provide a business license, but what the family didn’t know was that Mitchell had been arrested several times before, and he was arrested again Tuesday, charged with theft by deception. The project would allow Covington better accessibility to and from his vehicle and home.
“Having to take his grandfather out of the vehicle and then basically carry him inside the house to get into his wheelchair, or the chair that he sits in, inside the home because there is no ramp,” Oswald added.
Covington was selected as a recipient of a $25,000 grant from Home Depot and the Bearded Warriors to have a wheelchair ramp built in front of his home, but the ramp can not be built without the driveway being resurfaced first.
“It’s going to make it harder for our project when we come out in a couple weeks, because we’re going to have to either try fix what’s there, which is going to take money away from the grant for everything else or totally re-due everything,” Oswald said.
Bearded Warriors is now asking for the community’s hand in helping a veteran in need.
“Get the materials and resources we need to finish the project that we need done, prior to us coming out in May,” Oswald continued.
If you would like to help Covington complete his driveway so that he can get a wheelchair ramp installed call Bearded Warriors at (256) 567-3224 or email whatsbehindthebeard@gmail.com.