Lake County authorities said they've arrested a man, again, who is accused of scamming the elderly in The Villages.

  • David Hall arrested after allegedly exploiting elderly
  • Police say Hall has been taking large payments for contracted work
  • 79-year-old woman says she paid Hall for work and never saw him again

Officers escorted 47-year-old David Hall into the Lake County Jail early Thursday morning.

Lady Lake Police allege that Hall has been taking large advance payments for materials for contracted work, but reportedly once he gets the money, he doesn't come back.

Hall said he isn't stealing money.

"Y'all talk about me taking everyone’s money — you don't tell about work I've done or money I've returned," said Hall.

Hall was charged Thursday with exploitation of the elderly after 79-year-old Karen Johnson said she paid him in November but hasn't seen him since.

"I wanted him to paint the house and to put the new floor in in the kitchen," she said.

She said Hall only washed the house and charged her $50, but she said she wrote him a check for hundreds more, and he cashed it that day.

"I'm feeling angry because I gave him $900," Johnson said.

She said he never started the floor or painted her house.

When Spectrum News 13 asked about Hall's latest charge involving Johnson, he said to talk to his lawyer.

In December, Hall was arrested for the same charge — exploitation of an elderly person — after police say he was hired to fix Hurricane Irma damage. But police say he never finished, and the work he did do on a carport aluminum roof was incorrect.

He was also charged with unlicensed contracting and unlicensed contracting during state of emergency.

"He wanted $8,000 up front, and the gentleman declined to give him ($8,000) but gave him $4,000, and he did about $1,200 worth of work," said Detective Butch Perdue with Lady Lake Police.

Police said they have a book that Hall was using to keep track of his customers and that more charges are pending.