Bounce House business owner says thieves stole equipment and held him for ransom An inflatable house company with thousands of dollars worth of equipment told Channel 2 Action News it was being held for ransom by a customer.
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – An inflatable house company with thousands of dollars worth of equipment told Channel 2 Action News it was being held for ransom by a customer.
“I was initially contacted by him on Facebook Marketplace. His name is Thomas Jones,” said Jasmine Lawrence with JAK Event Rentals.
Lawrence sent Channel 2’s Larry Spruill a Facebook message from a customer who wanted to reserve a bouncy house from his company.
“They told us where to park, where we can put all the equipment and the inflatable. It was like an open area behind one of the apartment buildings,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence said his team had the customer fill out the forms and make a payment for the six-hour time slot. He also recorded a cell phone video of the setup process.
“He just sat there and watched us like a hawk the whole time,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence and his team left and agreed to return at 6pm to collect everything after the party was over.
“I get a text at 6 o’clock and the text said, ‘Hey, I want to know what time you’re coming over so I can unplug everything,'” Lawrence said.
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He told Spruill that his team got there around 6 p.m
“We saw all the equipment was gone, including the generator, the blowers. The only thing left was the green tarp on the ground,” Lawrence said. “Everything was gone. I’m going to say almost $4,000 worth of gear.”
To make matters worse, shortly after he received a text message from the client.
“I got two messages. One said, ‘I hate to give you bad news, but you’re not getting your stuff back.’ Then they followed up with, ‘The reason is I felt you overcharged me,'” she said Lawrence.
The company said the thieves told them they would get their equipment back if they paid $1,000.
The company said it had not paid them but contacted other rental companies to alert them.
Several companies told them the same man contacted them to make reservations.
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