A two-man team suspected of fleecing rural residents in an unusual scam involving lightning rods is being investigated in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.
Chippewa County authorities announced last week that they are investigating two men for allegedly posing fraudulently as subcontractors offering lightning-rod work.
St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed last week that they, too, are investigating a case involving the same crew.
“However, we’ll continue to follow up on other possible victims or people who did business with these guys,” said St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Knudson.
According to Knudson, the scam works like this:
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The men come up to homes with lightning rods, then tell the homeowners that it looks like they’ve been victims of a recent lightning strike. The rods will be in need of replacement, the story goes, and the crew will do the job on the spot or at a later time.
Residents report hearing the men working on their roofs, before coming back to collect payment.
The problem, Knudson said, is that the crew either doesn’t do the proper work -- or any at all.
He said a 65-year-old woman living in the 1100 block of County Road N in the town of Kinnickinnic appears to be a victim of the scam. The woman turned over $3,750 to the men on Jan. 14 before becoming suspicious if work was actually done.
St. Croix County sheriff’s investigator Cary Rose said an investigation at the woman’s house revealed that cables for her lightning rod had been disconnected, but that no actual repairs appear to have been made. The woman’s existing lightning rod remained in place and there was no footprint evidence to suggest the men inspected ground cables around the apparatus, Rose said.
“That’s their M.O. in Chippewa, Eau Claire, Burnett and Grant counties,” Knudson said.
The Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects as Fairchild, Wis., residents Danny Joles, 53, and David Zimbauer, 30.
Joles operates under the name Danny Joles Electric and Robbin’s Lightning Protection, according to a Chippewa County news release.
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According to the release, neither Joles, Zimbauer, nor the two companies they purport to work under show any contractor registration in Wisconsin.
One such incident in Cassville, Wis., scammed a farmer out of $14,000, Knudson said.
He said citizens should be wary of high-pressure sales representatives.
“They should be dealing with reputable businesses -- after doing your homework on them,” he said. “There are lots of honest contractors out there. But there are also some shady ones you want to be aware of.”
