Authorities Warn Boone Residents On Paving Scams

BOONE, N.C.,None — A Boone man is anticipating legal action after he refused to pay a man authorities say has been involved in unsavory paving practices across eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

Boone resident Steve West said he was at his home on Eagle Drive in Boone last week when he was approached by a man offering to repair West's driveway.

West said the man told him he had leftover asphalt mix from a job at Hardee's and offered to patch a few potholes in his driveway.

After the men agreed to a price of $3 a square foot, West said he mentally calculated that he would have to pay about $200 to $300 for the work.

"I had guests, so I went back in the house," West said. "We had dinner, so it was probably more than an hour. … By that time, he had paved about a third of the driveway."

West said he made it clear that the work was far beyond what he expected and eventually asked the man to leave.

"He went ballistic, but not at me directly," West said. "He threw a water bottle away down on the ground and was stomping around."

West said he felt threatened by statements the man made when he left.

The following day, the man returned with the price tag: $5,000.

West called authorities, who responded but told him there was little they could do because the issue was a civil matter.

"After they left, I went to him and I said, ‘I know too much. I'm not going to pay you. We'll settle this in court,'" West said.

The Watauga County Sheriff's Office has reported the incident to the N.C. Attorney General's office and N.C. Department of Revenue, but was able to offer little else to West.

Investigators found that the man's equipment assets and license were active in Tennessee and that he had the proper business licenses for North Carolina, Sheriff Len Hagaman said.

"In my personal opinion, he has proven to be very skilled in balancing on the edge of what is legitimate, civil impropriety and almost criminal," Hagaman said in an email.

Watauga is not the only county that has received reports of similar work.

Sheriff James Williams of Ashe County said in an email that he has also had trouble with paving scams in his county.

Rep. Jonathan Jordan and Sen. Dan Soucek were also contacted, by the Realtor for West's property, asking for additional laws to protect the public and legitimate contractors. Jordan responded positively to the request.

"I agree such con-men should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and if we need additional laws, I am very willing to consider such," Jordan wrote in an email.

WSOC