Niko Southard Niko Johnson Mike Johnson, Mike Southard Auto Body car repair rip off Tampa Florida
I was driving home and was going to get some food for my kids. Had this guy and who I asume to be his son, stop me in a McDonalds parking lot asking if I would like my car repaired as it had some minor front end damage to it. He told me he had a son that was going to have a birthday party later on that day at Chuck E Cheese and really needed the money. Said he worked at a auto body repair shop and had some leftover paint from his job from a car he was working on. I said sure, and he quoted me a good price. He followed me home and got right to work.
1 hr later he was all done. He had put some bondo on the car, told me not to wash it off for 24 hrs. I am not familiar with auto body repair so it seemed legit to me. The next day I take my car out to a car wash and washed off the bondo at night. I couldn't really tell that the paint did not match properly and thought I got a good deal. Well the next morning I could see the paint was not a good match. Called him and he said he still needed to put on some clear coat to make it match properly. He showed up with another guy and his son again. Told me they needed to rent a machine that would spray on the clear coat, and asked if I could help with the deposit, and like a dumb a*s I said ok. God, I was so stupid about his. I can't believe I let myself get scammed. But I did pick up some valuable clues to help anyone else you runs into this guy
1) Called himself Mike and said he lived in Chicago and moved here 1 yr ago. Said he was 37 yrs old with 5 kids and one grandchild.
2) Has a tatto of a bears face, resembled the Chicago Bears logo, on his left forearm.
3) His supposed son's name was Thomas, (Tommy)
4) Second guy he brought the next day was named Paul Nicholas.
5) Paul Nicholas also has a tattoo of a bear on his left forearm as well, smaller in size but same bears logo looking tattoo
6) I can confirm that Mike AKA Nick Johnson, is the guy in the pictures from this report
7) Tommy, Nikes son, looks just like Lauren so I imagine that is her's and Nicks son.
8) Nick is about 6'3 and 250 ish, lbs
9) Paul Nicholas, the guy Nick brought the second day, was about 5'10, 200 lbs, glasses. He is olive colored in skin and likes gold chains. Paul said he was Nicks Half brother and he has lived here for 6 yrs
10) Nick drove a dark Kia with a long key mark all the way down the passenger side. Tommy said this was from a ex girlfriend who keyed the car because he dumped her.
11) Both Nick and Tommy smoke. Nick also loves to wear a fitted bears hat backwards, did everyday I saw him.
12) They insist on being paid in cash, no checks.
13) Nick said he was staying in a hotel with his wife and kids for the past few months looking for a place to live. There is a house to rent right next door to mine and he even said he called the guy to see what the rent was and even gave me some details about the house and what the owner said.
Here is the kicker and why I really felt like I could trust him. Him and his son talk about religion and the bible with me for 2 hrs one night, and really knew what they were talking about. Sad, I let my guard down because I thought they we good ppl really struggling to make ends meet..