Kirby Vacuum Company Crime Chronology

Compiled: 02/19/08

 

Grand Forks Herald (ND)

 

July 30, 1992  

 

DATELINES: REGION COMPANY LOSES IN RAPE SUIT

Author: Herald wire reports

 

The state Supreme Court upheld a $150,000 jury award Wednesday to a woman who was raped by a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman in her Fargo apartment.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram

 

November 18, 1994  

 

Jury award shows need for background checks, lawyer says

Author: Associated Press

 

AUSTIN - A jury award of $1.7 million to a woman who said she was raped by a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman with a criminal record proves the need for thorough background checks of door-to-door salespeople, the woman's lawyer said.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

April 24, 1996  

 

 

 

Dateline: Neillsville

 

 

A con man serving jail time for bilking an elderly woman out of $30,000 pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating his work-release rules when he went to a Minnesota casino and won enough money to apparently finish paying her back.

 

Clark County officials thought Alan J. Heath, 39, was selling vacuum cleaners when he drove to the Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing, Minn.

 

The other charges accuse Heath of:

 

Selling a Kirby vacuum cleaner to an elderly woman in Dunn County, and then asking her to write another check because he said lost the original check. He cashed both checks.

Selling as many as 11 vacuum cleaners and seven carpet shampooers in South Carolina, and then taking them back.

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Ventura County Star (CA)

 

May 1, 1997  

 

Man sought in senior scam arrested

 

A vacuum cleaner salesman who allegedly used his sales techniques to scam elderly residents out of more than $100000 was arrested in Santa Barbara authorities said Wednesday.

 

Raymund Michael Crawford 39 of Thousand Oaks was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of grand theft burglary and writing bad checks said Oxnard Police Department Detective Ken Kent.

 

Crawford acted as a Kirby Vacuum Cleaner salesman and after selling to his victims he would recontact them to try to persuade them to invest in business ventures Kent said.

 

Detectives believe Crawford promised high interest rate return on investments but either failed to pay at all paid only small amounts or paid with bad checks.

 

Crawford allegedly bilked senior citizens from Oxnard Camarillo and Ventura out of $115000 Kent said.

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Great Falls Tribune (MT)

 

April 3, 1999  

 

Teen charged with stealing deluxe vacuum

 

A would-be vacuum cleaner salesman has been charged in Cascade County District Court with theft of the demonstration model he was issued at the end of his training.

 

Jeffrey John Lanners, 18, 3024 1st Ave. S., is charged with felony theft.

 

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Jan 1, 1999.

Firm liable for rape by employee Texas Supreme Court rules vacuum maker should have required check on salesman;

Dallas Morning News.

 

AUSTIN - The Texas Supreme Court sided Thursday with a woman who accused a door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salesman of raping her, holding his employer liable for her injuries.

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- April 20, 1999

Cincinnati Enquirer Ohio

 

Persistent salesman who frightened homeowner is indicted

 

The eager pursuit of a sale has landed a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman in court. When no one answered his knock on the front door of a Meadow Lane residence Dec. 7, salesman Jeremy Osborne decided to try another, police said.

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The Knoxville News-Sentinel

 

March 8, 2001  

 

Convicted bank robber charged in more robberies, plot

 

A vacuum cleaner salesman already convicted of robbing a Lenoir City bank has been charged with robbing other East Tennessee banks and plotting to kidnap the wife of a bank president to extort money.

 

Gregory Earl Jones and fellow Kirby Vacuum Cleaner salesman Steven Wayne Mendenhall got the idea to rob a bank after watching the television show "Cops," according to court documents filed by FBI Special Agent Todd Sandstedt in 1998.

 

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Dec 13, 2003

Woman claims vacuum salesman groped her

Charleston Daily Mail. Charleston, W.V.

 

 

According to the lawsuit, Bush let White and another, unidentified Kirby salesman come into her house to show her how the Kirby vacuum cleaner works. After the salesmen completed the demonstration, the unnamed agent used Bush's bathroom and left the house.

Bush broke free, but White followed her around performing a sex act, according to the suit. After he finished, he told Bush "he would come back to her residence later that evening, to determine if she would be interested in purchasing the Kirby vacuum cleaner," according to the suit.

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Dec 15, 2003

Salesman accused of scam

AP. Columbian. Vancouver, Wash.

 

Mickey Brown was ranked among the top 10 distributors three times during his 17 years selling Kirby vacuums in Tigard, Ore., officials said. Lili Brown operated a separate distributorship from 1989 to 1996.

 

PORTLAND (AP) -- A former vacuum cleaner salesman and his wife are facing lawsuits claiming they ran a multimillion-dollar credit card scam that defrauded the elderly, disabled and fellow church members.

 

Johnny "Mickey" Brown and Lili Andersen Brown allegedly took money for vacuum cleaners from their customers and instead invested it in real estate, according to lawsuits and complaints seeking nearly $4 million filed with the state.

 

U.S. Bank has the largest claim, seeking $3.4 million in its lawsuit that accuses the Washington County couple of fraud and racketeering.

 

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www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/kirby_salesman.html

 

Kirby Salesman Swept Up in Crackdown

 

February 20, 2004

A Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman was arrested and charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person, theft by deception, harassment through electronic communications, and violation of the

 

Thomas Schierer, 37, of East Peoria, obtained money and a vacuum cleaner from a Canton couple in exchange for a Kirby vacuum cleaner he falsely represented to be "new."Schierer appeared in court Feb. 10, and bond was set at $25,000.

 

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07/26/04

Door-to-door peddlers arrested

 

WAPELLO, Iowa - Four Des Moines-area men were arrested Sunday evening by Wapello police after a local resident complained to authorities that they were going door-to-door selling Kirby vacuum cleaners.

 

According to a Wapello Police Department report, Aaron Alexander, Michael Feller and Johnathan Johnston were charged July 25 with peddling without a license.

 

A fourth man, Dallas Gamble, was arrested at a Wapello residence during a demonstration. Gamble was charged with peddling without a license as well as possession of a controlled substance, suspected methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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March 2, 2005

 

CLERMONT, Fla. -- A Lake County community is on alert after two men allegedly sexually assaulted a young girl in her home.

 

Girl Sexually Assaulted By Traveling Salesmen, Police Say  

 

The two teenage men were going door to door in a Clermont-area neighborhood offering

carpet-cleaning services, WESH News Channel 2 reported.

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Sep 11, 2005

Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wis

CUSTOMERS REACH LAWSUIT DEAL WITH VACUUM SELLER ; TWO WOMEN SAY THEY WERE AGGRESSIVELY PRESSURED TO

BUY KIRBY VACUUM CLEANERS.

 

Madison residents who said they were aggressively pressured to buy Kirby vacuum cleaners from a local dealership have reached consumer lawsuit settlements with the dealership, the Kirby company and a finance company.

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Times Tribune

11/04/2005

Door-to-door salesman guilty of sex offenses

 

A New York state man was convicted in Lackawanna County Court of three sexual offenses Wednesday, but cleared of three others.

 

A seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated more than six hours before finding Delmar Hooks, 27, of  Elmira, guilty of statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. He was acquitted of rape, sexual assault and indecent exposure.

 

Police alleged Mr. Hooks, a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, sexually assaulted a 15-year-old  Clarks Summit girl who allowed him into her residence twice the evening of March 9.

 

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Mar 20, 2006

 

Former salesman ordered to pay $12 million for credit-card misuse;

 The Oregonian. Portland, Or.

A former vacuum cleaner salesman accused of bilking more than 100 customers by misusing their credit cards, has come up on the short end of a $12 million civil judgment.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty's ruling, sought by U.S. Bank National Association, found that John Henry Brown, also known as Mickey Brown, did not refute evidence showing that he committed breach of contract, fraud and violations of the Racketeering Influence Corruption Act, or RICO.

 

www.wnbc.com/news/10249571/detail.html

 

November 6, 2006

Vacuum Salesman Charged With Burglary, Grand Larceny

 

FREEPORT, N.Y. -- A door-to-door vacuum salesman in Freeport allegedly stole a car of a potential client after failing to make a sale moments earlier, according to Nassau County Police.

 

Police said 24-year-old Giovanny Martinez took the car keys left near the front door of the home and drove off Saturday about 11 a.m. The vehicle was recovered and Martinez of Richmond Hill,

Queens was arrested on charges of burglary and grand larceny.

 

Martinez pleaded not guilty and is being held on $2,500 bail. Police said Martinez, who worked for Kirby Vacuums, stole the keys after he was turned down for carpet cleaning services.