Three people have now come forward alleging a local mechanic took their money and never finished the job. These families said they paid a local mechanic hundreds of dollars to have their cars repaired but instead, their cars are worse than before.
"Grand theft motor vehicle, dealing stolen property, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon," said Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith. "He's got everything from violence to child cruelty. This record is unbelievable."
43-year-old Richard Londress has 30 felony charges on his record. The recent complaints happened in Duval County, but he's known to Bradford County deputies, where there's an active warrant out for his arrest for violating probation after a grand theft auto conviction.
"He's got a path and a trail of victims from people that work hard to get something fixed, and he's taking their money," said Sheriff Smith.
Last week, Melissa Young turned to the On Your Side team when she found her car left at a grocery store, stripped of its parts.
She said she handed over $1600 before she realized Ricky was never going to fix her car.
When she called JSO, an officer told her it was a civil dispute.
Travis Moore told First Coast News he hired Londress, who he says took the parts out of the car and didn't fix anything. He says lost $900 in the process.
"This is our only car here, so I wish I had made a better decision on who I got to do the work."
Another woman we spoke to says they had him sign a note saying he would work on the car after they gave him 250 dollars... they never heard from him again.
Sheriff Smith said this is more than a civil matter. It's fraud.
"We can go back and prove that you paid money to have your car fixed and they didn't order the parts, or they made no intention of fixing the vehicle or they've pulled parts off of it," said Sheriff Smith.
He said detectives are looking for him right now.
"People like this need to be stopped because each and every day they're creating more victims, and they don't care. They're not going to stop until they're caught," said Sheriff Smith.
At this time, Londress has not been charged in these incidents.
First Coast News spoke with Londress over the phone, and he denied all of the accusations. He said he knows he violated probation, but that he's not hiding from law enforcement.
We also reached out to JSO about the incidents that have occurred in Duval County. The spokesperson did not get back to us.