'Nosy' Neighbors Credited For Stopping Broken Arrow Home Repair Fraud

Broken Arrow Police arrested a father and son on suspicion of home improvement fraud last week.

Broken Arrow police said the men showed up to a woman's home and started digging up her driveway, without her approval.

"I said, 'Something's not right there.' 'I said, 'That's a scam,’” her neighbor, Jim, said.

Jim said he happened to look out his window and saw a group of men pull up to the house. They tried to start repaving the woman’s driveway, and something seemed off.

"I'm nosy as hell,” Jim said.

Jim helped get the elderly woman's family involved and police arrested two men for suspicion of home improvement fraud.

Father and son, Tim and Ezzie Stanley told officers they "usually charge $320" to repave driveways. Their arrest reports says they were "cleaning out the cracks and spreading a "Jell-O" like substance on the driveway. Police said they were using a pocket knife to remove debris from the victim’s driveway.

“He'd work here, move over 15 feet, work there, for a few seconds and come back. He was all over that driveway,” Jim said. “I don't know what the hell he was doing, but I mean, to me, it was, 'Alright, what are you doing?'"

Broken Arrow Police Officer James Koch said they're used to seeing phone scams, but not one that's face-to-face. 

"While we all want to believe people are out here trying to make an honest living, we still have to be skeptical,” Koch said.

"It might mean that you live, or you die. That's what it comes down to,” Jim said.

Both the father and son are accused of having meth on them at the time. They also had warrants out of other counties for similar crimes.

They are in jail without bond.