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Police Warn Residents About Asphalt Scammer

GOSHEN (KFSM) — The Goshen Police Department warned citizens Thursday night about a scammer that they said is threatening to take a person’s propert...

GOSHEN (KFSM) -- The Goshen Police Department warned citizens Thursday night about a scammer that they said is threatening to take a person's property.

Sergeant Jason Travis explained they are looking for Henry Cooper, the person they said is responsible for these incidents.

So far, three victims have come to the police department.

Travis explained Cooper will go door to door offering cheap asphalt work, but after everything is done, he asks for more money.

The scam doesn't stop there.

Travis continued to say that Cooper will also tell victims that they will put a lien on their property and even take it away from them.

“I mean he’s basically intimidating them," Travis said. "One of the ladies that we spoke to was afraid that he would come back to her house.”

5NEWS spoke to one of the victims in the area and they declined going on camera because they were afraid of Cooper because of the threats made to them.

By now, Goshen police suspect Cooper has made thousands of dollars from this technique.

Brikett Wootton is an investigator with the Arkansas Contracting Licensing Board.

He said the Cooper isn't the only person behind this scam.

Wootton explained Cooper and his tight knit community of "asphalt layers" were based out of Spiro, Oklahoma and work outside of bigger cities.

“They don’t allow anyone outside of the family to join," Wootton said. "They have their own culture, they have their own rules and laws. They basically have territories where they meet and decide who gets to work where.”

Travis said now they are waiting for an arrest warrant for Cooper and hope to charge him with theft by deception.

What they want people to know now is that this is happening in our area.

“We want to warn our citizens because he’s already got three people," Travis said. "He’s working the entire Northwest Arkansas area. I’ve got reports that he’s handing out flyers in Rogers, Arkansas. So he’s canvasing kind of the whole area and we just want to warn people. We don’t want people to be taken by him.”

Travis said Cooper does not have a license to do the work he is offering.

An easy way to make sure the person offering work is not trying to fool you is to simply  go online to the state department's webpage to see if the person is licensed through the state.

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