BRIDGE CREEK, OKLA. – Al Coster got himself into a taxing situation after he hired a tax preparer to stitch together his tax return.

“They went in and filled them out on the computer like you would do online or anywhere else,” he said.

Al glanced over his return, signed the dotted line and thought he was paid up to the IRS.

“Until December of last year, I got a letter from the IRS saying I owed them $500 dollars right before Christmas.”

The tax preparer made several mistakes on Al’s return.

The IRS even charged him interest on his unpaid tax.

“I made the mistake by not checking the return close enough I guess,” Al said.

Here’s the In Your Corner bottom line.

The tax payer is legally responsible for what goes on their tax return even when someone else prepares it.

As tax season draws to a close there are new reports of phone and email scams.

• Never click on links.

• The IRS will never email you.

• Agents won’t ask for your pin or credit card information.

Al plans to stay vigilante.

Meanwhile, he’s back in good standing with the IRS and finally received a refund check from the tax preparer.

The state links to free tax preparation software online.

Review your entire return before signing it.

Always go with a tax preparer you know and trust.

MOORE, OKLA. – There are new details involving an Oklahoma contractor facing some serious allegations.

Glenn McCoy is accused of ripping off countless Oklahoma families.

His customers say he swiped their cash and bailed on the job.

Shortly after we launched our investigation into McCoy, the contractor skipped town for Kentucky leaving his Oklahoma customers with unfinished business.

You may remember Kathy Chow.

The tornado victim was homeless and fighting for her life.

She said, “I just got through with stage 4 cancer and then I’m going through a divorce, then this.”

In that moment we couldn’t take away Kathy’s pain, but we could do something to help.

Ultimately it was a Facebook post and a friend’s recommendation that led us to Jeremy Gillikin and REDBUD Construction.

The company has agreed to take over the project.

Gillikin said, “We’re going to take it down to the studs.”

Kathy can’t stop smiling.

“It’s like a miracle,” she said. “If you guys hadn’t come into my life, I’m not sure where I’d be at this point.”

Get this!

Initially, Kathy’s insurance company only reimbursed her about $70,000 to cover all of the repairs.

By the time Jeremy and REDBUD got through with the adjuster, Kathy’s settlement check more than doubled!

Work should begin in the coming weeks.

There is more good news for Kathy.

Her divorce is finalized and her cancer is in remission.

Meanwhile, McCoy could still face prosecution should the Attorney General decide to file criminal charges against the contractor.

We’ll keep you posted on the investigation.

EL RENO, OKLA. – We have new details involving an Oklahoma salesman.

Customers say Russ Johnson is running a fake advertising company.

Now we’ve learned he’s facing new charges tied to complaints against his business.

Already we’ve caught the salesman in several lies, like pretending not to know dissatisfied customers.

In Your Corner reporter, Scott Hines, asks Johnson, “You don’t ever remember meeting crystal Starbuck?”

Johnson replies, “No I don’t.”

Starbuck and other small business owners, like Jimmy Hendershot say Johnson sold them fake advertising.

“His deal is not too good to be true,” he said. “It’s fair. It’s as if he was working a legitimate advertising company.”

Johnson is facing a bogus check charge in Canadian County.

Now we’ve learned he’s wanted in Oklahoma county.

Wednesday, the District Attorney filed new fraud charges against the salesman.

To this day Johnson claims a media buyer in Dallas has some of his customers’ cash.

“I have to get my money back from the media buyer,” he said.

But when we asked for that media buyer’s name, Johnson refused to give it to us.

“I am not giving you anymore, No. You’re a pain in the butt, man.”

Johnson still refuses to give us that media buyer’s name, if one even exists.

He still hasn’t refunded any of his customers their money.

We’ll keep you posted on things.

EL RENO, OKLA. – Our In Your Corner team has new details involving an Oklahoma contractor in big trouble with the law.

Michael Kennedy is accused of bailing on jobs and failing to pay subcontractors.

This week he was in court for his arraignment.

Small business owners, like Chaudhry Sahi and Jason Atchison, say they’re at their wits end with Kennedy.

The contractor is charged in Canadian county with embezzling over $100,000 from Sahi.

Tuesday — Kennedy pleaded not guilty to the crime.

So far he and his attorney have refused to comment on the allegations.

Kennedy’s criminal trial is set for this September.

We’ll keep you posted.

OKLAHOMA CITY -  NewsChannel 4′s own meteorologist Emily Sutton and In Your Corner reporter, Scott Hines, continue to go the distance for cancer research.

Now they’re teaming up with Organic Squeeze to raise money for the Go Mitch Go Foundation.

Scott and Emily are putting on a benefit boot camp at Nichols Hills Plaza from 9 AM til 11:30 PM.

Scott and Emily have recruited 11 other Oklahomans to train as a part  of “Team Oklahoma” for Ironman Arizona and help them raise money for blood and bone cancer research.

The foundation was formed in 2009 to honor the legacy of Mitchell Graham Whitaker, who passed away at the age of 10 in 2007 from complications associated with leukemia.

PHOENIX – A pair of familiar faces around NewsChannel 4 will be heading to Arizona as a first step to raise money for an Oklahoma non-profit.

Emily Sutton and Scott Hines area heading to Phoenix to volunteer for this weekend’s Ironman Arizona.

Volunteering for the race guarantees them a spot in next year’s Ironman, where they will be completing a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.

They have recently started training for the 2014 competition, where they will try and raise $200,000 for the Go Mitch Go Foundation.

The foundation is an Oklahoma-based non-profit that supports the fight against leukemia and lymphoma.

The foundation was formed in 2009 to honor the legacy of Mitchell Graham Whitaker, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 10 from complications associated with leukemia.

Mitch was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and began chemotherapy at the age of 8.

Over the next two years,  he continued to excel in the classroom and on the baseball field despite his frequent hospital stays and chemotherapy.

He had dreams of becoming a doctor and finding a cure for the disease that made him so sick.

Tragically, Mitch relapsed in 2007 and passed away from the cancer 45 days later.

His family decided to take up his cause and attempt to find a cure to save other children from the disease.

Donations to the non-profit go to fund blood cancer research through the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and other partner agencies.

It’s a cause that has touched Scott and Emily’s personal lives.

So far, Scott and Emily have recruited about 12 other Oklahomans to train as a part  of “Team Oklahoma” and help them raise money for the foundation.

For more information on the Go Mitch Go Foundation, visit the non-profit’s website.

To learn more about the Arizona Ironman, visit the event’s website.

NEWKIRK, OKLA. – Some customers say James Etter took their cash, but bailed on the job.

Pastor Neil Coffman hired Etter to repair his hail damaged Oklahoma City church.

His complaints include an unfinished job and shoddy work.

The church isn’t alone.

“He robbed me of $42,000,” said businessman, Don Cales.

Etter was supposed to build Cales a giant billboard off the interstate.

Six months later there’s still no sign.

“He offered plausible excuses,” Cales said. “He was an expert at that.”

Etter’s excuse is he purchased the materials months ago, but someone stole the goods and hauled them off to Mexico.

We can’t verify any of the contractor’s story because he refuses to provide us with names or written proof.

We know Etter received an estimate from a steel shop in Stillwater, but that steel shop tells the In Your Corner team Etter never actually purchased any supplies from them.

We pressed Etter for more answers and that’s when he bolted.

The contractor claims he’s got several big jobs in the works and once he gets paid he’ll make things right with Don and the church.

Meanwhile, Don’s hired an attorney to go after Etter in court.

“Oh I forgive Etter,” he said. “He’s got to come to himself and straighten his life out.

While digging into Etter’s past we discovered he’s a wanted man in Kay County for being a no show in court on a traffic case.

Etter claims he didn’t have a clue about his arrest warrant or Don’s lawsuit.

He says he’s working to restore his good name with customers.

We’ll keep you posted.

MOORE, OKLA. – Most of us watched the horrifying images play out on live TV.

We all remember the tornado path and the iconic image of the lone inferno in its aftermath.

That was Pastor Brent Avery’s rental home.

“The tornado hit on Monday,” he said. “We weren’t able to get to the property until a couple weeks later when we returned from a trip from Israel.”

The preacher and his wife were in the holy land leading a tour group.

When they returned to Oklahoma , they say Ronald Roberts snared them into a rebuild contract totaling more than $100,000.

Pastor Avery said, “[He] represented his business as being faith based, Christian based organization and that kind of appealed to me as a believer.”

In the end, the preacher says he was duped by Roberts to the tune of about $40,000.

“The reality was after he left the lot in the condition it was and took the money from us we no longer had the ability to rebuild,” Avery said.

Roberts not only says he’s a religious man, but claims to travel the country helping natural disaster victims do “clean up, demolition, restoration and rebuilds.”

On his website he lists big name clients like BP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and Chesapeake.

We did some checking.

None of the companies or government agencies we talked to have any ties to Roberts or his company.

They say he’s using their logos without permission.

Roberts is becoming a regular on our news channel.

Last month he was held at gunpoint by a rancher in Garfield County.

“He was stealing stuff that I worked hard for and based on his size, that was a weapon to me,” Mike Diel said.

Pastor Avery saw our report.

“Ron was a college football player,” he said. He’s a big guy, two of me, so when that rancher pulled out his gun and said, ‘Get on the ground.’ That was a wise move. He’s a big boy.”

We can’t talk to Roberts because he’s still locked up in the Garfield County jail.

Meanwhile, back in Moore, Pastor Avery was forced to sell his property because he no longer has enough money to rebuild.

“We’re not getting our money back from him,” he said. “I know that, but if it can stop him and protect someone else, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

Pastor Avery is already shopping around for new rental properties.

As it stands now, Roberts posted bond in Garfield County, but authorities won’t release him because he’s wanted in Mcclain County on a separate domestic assault and battery case.

Officials there tell me they plan to extradite Roberts in the coming week.

We’ll check back.

MOORE, OKLA. – The Johnson family didn’t have a storm cellar.

Dad, Allan, flew into survival mode.

“I said we got to get out of here,” he said.

They jumped in the car and floored it to safety.

Their home though took a direct hit.

“As soon as we turned the corner you could see the side of our house was exposed,” Allan said.

Then came the clean-up and visits from their insurance adjusters.

Allan says the most frustrating part was trying to file the claim.

The Johnsons eventually got some help from Alice Young, an independent adjuster from Brown O’Haver.

“How I got the Johnson’s $50,000 was not on big stuff,” she said. “If you look at this page alone, you don’t see one item over $100.

Alice urges us to inventory your entire home, moving room to room, listing all items as we go.

• Don’t forget to inventory your attic and garage.

• Take pictures or video record your belongings.

• Keep a paper trail on your more expensive items.

“Electronics, furniture, appliances, any of that stuff, make sure that you keep receipts for,” Young said. “Those are the things that change the most in price, value and also will depreciate higher.”

Remember, should your items get damaged in a natural disaster the last thing you want to do is throw them away.  

Hold on to all of the damaged items until an adjuster can see them.

The In Your Corner bottom line is an inventory will help you expedite your claim process.

Keep your inventory records at a safe place other than your home.

Free Home Inventory Apps:

Know Your Stuff 

Allstate Digital Locker

State Farm HomeIndex

Liberty Mutual Home Gallery

OK Insurance Dept. MyHome

OKLAHOMA CITY - 88 year-old Bob Coleman is sharp as a tack, but it wasn’t enough to keep his money safe.

The World War II Veteran says someone, posing as a family member from California, recently scammed him out $33,000.

“He started off by saying, ‘This is your nephew and I’m in jail,’” Coleman said. “’I had a fight. I lost my billfold and I need some money.’”

His nephew was supposedly jailed in Mexico and desperate to post bond.

Elaine Dodd is head of the fraud unit for the Oklahoma Bankers Association.

“They’re saying they are the grandchild, the nephew to them, and that they are in trouble,” Dodd said. “’I’m so sorry. I was in Mexico [or] I was in Canada. I was at a wedding [and] drinking. Whatever you do do not call mom and dad.’”

We’ve warned you about these wire transfer scams before.

In Bob’s case, a second scammer pretended to be his nephew’s attorney.

They convinced the senior to do a large wire transfer to Guadalajara, Mexico, under the guise the cash was for a down payment on a beach house.

Bob’s family can’t believe their elderly father was able to walk into his bank and wire nearly all of his life’s savings to another country.

“Our position is that there should have been red flags all over this deal from the minute my dad walked in,” Bob’s daughter, Susan Shebester, said. “He hadn’t been in that bank in five years. They didn’t know him. He had $40,000 in the bank and they’re going to send 85 percent of what he has in the bank, for a beach house.”

First Fidelity Bank President and C.E.O., Lee Symcox sent us a statement. He says, “Mr. Coleman visited the bank in person.  We had no reason to doubt his instructions, or to deny Mr. Coleman the use of his money.”

He goes onto say, “This is an unfortunate situation. We require ongoing training of all our employees on fraud, and will continue to do so. We will assist Mr. Coleman and the authorities in apprehending these criminals in any way possible.” 

Dodd, an anti-fraud trainer, says Oklahoma bankers are some of the most educated on fraud prevention in the U.S.

“We’re all working to try to say, for instance, can we look more closely, or monitor more closely a senior’s bank account,” she said. “Right now, that’s discrimination. So we can’t do that.”

Bob hopes sharing his ordeal publicly educates not only other seniors, but the bankers on the front lines of this epidemic.    

The In Your Corner bottom line:

• Wiring money is like sending cash. There are no protections in place for the person wiring the money.

• If you receive a strange phone call, verify the supposed emergency by contacting friends and family first.

EDMOND, OKLA. – Millie Young is a polio survivor and continues to suffer from a neurological disorder.

The last thing she needs right now is more stress.

“We’re getting up in age where we don’t need things tormenting us and aggravating us,” she said.

She and her husband, Glen, get by fine, but they’re on a fixed income.

Three years ago they signed an agreement with U.S. Alert Security to monitor their home’s security system.

Well, that contract was supposed to expire earlier this year.

Instead U.S. Alert tacked on another year of service and more charges because of something etched out in their contract.

The only way they can only get out of their agreement is if they submit a written cancellation notice to U.S. Alert at least 90 days prior to their contract expiring.

Millie said, “I didn’t contact them by letter, written form, they could continue to charge me for a year.”

Here’s the thing, the couple doesn’t even live at the home where the alarm system is installed.

They moved late last year.

Millie says she tried calling U.S. Alert to cancel the service, but that wasn’t good enough.

U.S. Alert’s owner, Jeremy Young, claims Glen and Millie were well aware of the terms of their contract.

He goes onto say while he believes their “…agreement to be valid and enforceable,” he’s decided to waive the Young’s balance after all.

Millie now has one less worry on her plate.

The In Your Corner bottom line:

• Most times you’re bound by whatever is written in a contract.

• Service contracts typically include extensive terms and conditions.

• It makes sense to read every line before you sign.

OKLA. CITY – Our In Your Corner team has an update on a family that lost everything in a house fire.

Their place was a complete loss.

Our hearts went out to Bettye Copeland and her great-grandson, Josh, because they didn’t have insurance.

That’s when our team started rallying the community to get behind the family.

For the past year, the In Your Corner team’s been partnering with Tim Reardon and Rebuilding Together to get Bettye and her great-grandson, Josh, back in their home.

“Today was a very happy day in my life to see all these people here and for all the things they did for me and Josh,” Bettye said.

Gordon’s Service Experts hooked them up with a brand new heating and air system.

Claude Drabek and Drabek and Hill handled the duct work.

“We just felt grateful to contribute to it and help,” Drabek said.

Neal McGee Homes donated labor and materials to build the walls.

“It’s her lifestyle,” Neal McGee’s marketing director, Seth Lewis, said. “It’s her home. It’s her family. It’s where her heart is.”

Cannon Drywall offered up their services for free and so did Osborne Electric and the members from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Bettye has her independence back and a safer way to shower now.

There’s one space though that has her heart.

She said, “My kitchen I absolutely love.”

It was built with love by Zachary Taylor and Classic Kitchens.

“It’s what you live for,” he said. “There was an obvious need and we had resources.”

Bettye never expected all this.

It’s a dream come true.

“If Channel 4 hadn’t got involved, I don’t think a lot of this could have happened,” Bettye said. “It wouldn’t have happened.”

OKLA. CITY – Two years ago, fire put Peggy Thomas out on the street.

“[There was] smoke damage everywhere, upstairs, downstairs,” she said.

The senior’s been living with family ever since.

What’s keeping her from rebuilding her home and life is what’s been growing in the condo next door.

There’s black mold and lots of it!

Bank of America owns the foreclosure property.

Jeff Scott and Lisa Loven were hired by Peggy to do her fire rebuild and they discovered the mold outbreak next door. They took pictures.  

“[I] looked into the window and we saw mold coming through the seams of the hardwood floor and throughout there,” Scott said.

Loven says, “[It was on the] cabinets, up the walls and [I] looked over and that’s when we saw the water supply line constantly running.”

Peggy paid an engineer and air specialist to do mold testing in her unit.

She says she sent Bank of America the results of those tests, but so far BOA hasn’t remediated the mold in either unit and instead had their own contractor do repairs to cover up the mold.

“They’ve stonewalled,” Peggy said. “They sent a contractor to paint the walls. I compare that to putting a band-aid on cancer.”

“Investors go and sit in these auction rooms, they buy these houses,” Scott said. “They know they’re buying as is. They’re going to have issues with it. The problem is that property is sharing a wall with hers’.”

For more than a month now we’ve been in talks with Bank of America about the mold.

BOA spokesperson, Rick Simon, tells us they’ve only had access to their unit since January shortly after the foreclosure was finalized.

Bank of America’s statement:

Until the foreclosure sale was completed in December 2013, Bank of America did not have legal possession or access to the foreclosed unit, which is in a gated community.  The bank first gained access and was able to inspect the foreclosed unit in January 2014. Since then, the repair and remediation of the mold damage that our vendor and Ms. Thomas’ contractor identified in each unit has been progressing and is close to completion. The bank’s contractor initially took appropriate steps to remediate visible mold in the foreclosed unit, and later determined additional work was necessary.

We understand Ms. Thomas’ unit caught fire in 2012 and that the mold in her unit was identified thereafter. Although Bank of America has had control of the foreclosed unit for just a few months and it is difficult to conclusively determine the source of the water that caused the mold or when the water damage took place, we have undertaken the remediation of the mold in the identified adjoining area of both units at our expense. We wish Ms. Thomas well.

- Rick Simon, Bank of America Home Loans & Servicing

The In Your Corner bottom line is Peggy’s contractors can’t get to work, until the mold problem goes away, which means a move-in date for Peggy is still months away.

She said, “They don’t realize the extent of what they’re putting me through by keeping me out of my home.”

Additional mold testing was done.

Bank of America should have the mold remediated in the coming weeks.

Peggy’s contractors hope to start construction on her rebuild shortly thereafter.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Larry Stream is one special guy. The 57 year-old is autistic. He’s big-hearted and old school.

Patia McManus runs the kitchen and dining room at Quail Ridge Assisted Living, where Larry lives.

“Larry does not like technology,” she said. “He still uses a cassette tape, an eight track and a VCR.”

So when his VCR quit working he was determined to find a new one.

McManus said, “He came into the dining room and I was standing there and he said, ‘Patia, you have to call Scott Hines.’”

This was a first for the In Your Corner team.

VCRs are practically extinct.

I didn’t know where to find one, so I enlisted the help of our KFOR engineering team and they found a spare one to donate to Larry.

Friday, we dropped by Quail Ridge to pull off the big surprise.

Larry had no idea we were coming.

News Channel 4’s Scott Hines, says, “We brought you something. We heard you needed someone in your corner.”

Larry says, “Thank you.”

Larry’s not just a movie buff, but he’s also an artist and a Channel 4 super fan.

Over the years he’s sketched News Channel 4 personalities, including Linda Cavanaugh, Kevin Ogle and Scott Hines.

“You’re in his book,” McManus said. “So this is very special to him. It’s really cool that you guys did this.”

Update: Our In Your Corner team has new details involving an Oklahoma City woman who contacted our team about a giant hole in her front yard.

Jodi Lehman was frustrated with the company that put it there, AT&T.

“I’d like to get that taken care of,” she said. “I just want it back to how it was two months ago.”

Our team didn’t waste any time. They got right to work.

As soon as we caught AT&T up to speed on things, they got to work on the unfinished project.

“I had a person come out and pump it the very next day, pump the water out that was left in the hole.

The four foot deep hole is gone.

In its place now is fresh new sod.

Jodi even received several apology phone calls from AT&T.

“Thank you so much,” she said.

OKLAHOMA CITY – There’s a lingering eyesore in Jodi Lehman’s front yard.

“It’s hard to mow,” she said. “The dirt is going to kill my sod.”

Not to mention it’s dangerous for neighborhood kids.

“If I were to get in the hole all you would see would be my head,” Jodi said.

Jodi wants to know who’s responsible.

She says she contacted the In Your Corner team because AT&T was dragging their feet on the matter.

“I see you get results on TV,” Jodi said. “I see you help other people whenever they have a need.”

An AT&T spokesperson says, “We worked directly with the customer to resolve the issue, apologized for the inconvenience and thanked her for bringing this to our attention. The customer is satisfied with the resolution.”

OKLA. CITY – Kennan Horn has a rare eye disease.

“It takes your night vision first,” he said. “Most people have about 180 degrees of peripheral [vision]. I have about 18. It’s like looking through a toilet paper tube.”

Not enough light makes it hard for him to see and too much light is painful.

That’s why the Army Veteran and his wife, Caroline, hired Scott Birdwell to tint their home’s windows.

They say he got paid, but hasn’t done a lick of work.

Birdwell’s company is Changing Shades Commercial and Residential Window.

On Facebook he posts bible verses and talks about ministering to addicts and their families, but we discovered another, much more sinister side to Birdwell.

Court records show a long list of felony convictions, including larceny, assault and battery, domestic abuse, among others.

Right now, Birdwell is charged with home repair fraud in Creek County and that’s not all.

Our search for Birdwell brought us to Tulsa County.

We’ve learned he was recently living at home with his parents, until authorities say he threatened to kill them and burn their house down.

Birdwell’s own parents told investigators their son knocked holes in their walls, ripped doors off hinges and threw their computer on the yard.

He’s been residing in the Tulsa County jail ever since.

The Horns have since hired someone else to tint their windows.

“It stinks to lose money to someone who defrauded you out of it, but more importantly you don’t want to see your neighbors or friends [get scammed].”

Thursday, Birdwell pleaded guilty to crimes in Tulsa County and was sentenced to six months behind bars.

Remember, he’s still accused of home repair fraud in Creek County.

We’ll keep you posted.

OKLA. CITY – Our In Your Corner team has new information on Randy Madewell, a Texas contractor accused of preying on countless families across the country, including several Oklahoma customers.

Homeowner, Roger Hagerman, says Madewell took him to the cleaners.

“[I’m out] about $3500 and I haven’t been able to get a hold of him,” he said. “That day the check went through.”

The state later filed four counts of home repair fraud against Madewell, but authorities skipped town before authorities could arrest him.

He eventually made his way to Indiana where he was later convicted of running a home repair fraud scheme.

Madewell was serving hard time in Indiana, but just this week, Oklahoma authorities picked him up in Indiana and brought him back to the Oklahoma county jail.

That’s where he’ll stay until he answers to the fraud charges in our state.

We’ll keep you posted.

OKLA. CITY – Beth Worstine wanted surveillance cameras for peace of mind.

She hired A Plus Security and Kevin Quisenberry to install the system.

“He said, ‘I need $900 to pay for equipment,’” Beth said. “I’m one of those that knows don’t pay up front.”

Beth ignored her intuition and handed over the cash anyway.

Quisenberry was out of town when we finally got a hold of him.

He says he ordered Beth’s equipment, but by the time he was ready to install it she refused to let him finish the job.

We checked with the Oklahoma Department of Labor, the agency that licenses alarm installers.

Quisenberry is in good standing with the state.

“We do have the capability to fine individually,” James Buck, Director of Safety Standards and Licensing for the Oklahoma Department of Labor, said. “We mainly focus primarily first on compliance through education.”

Anyone can access the state’s online database of licensed alarm installers and locksmiths.

“They should be carrying an actual license on them at all times that has their picture on it, valid expiration date and it has the categories which it was licensed,” Buck said.

Beth has since hired someone else to install her security system.

The same day we reached Quisenberry over the phone he sent Beth a text message assuring her he’d be sending her the money certified mail.

“[I was] quite surprised,” Beth said. “Channel 4 must have really done their job, cause I never thought I was going to hear from him again, ever.”

Beth is optimistic.

We’ll let you know just as soon as she gets her money.

Check out registered OK alarm installers and locksmiths here.

DEL CITY, OKLA. – The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately.

The Raptors are all heart.

Their otherwise successful season was marred by something off the field.

Raptors and their parents want to know what former coach, Jennifer Strother, did with the uniform cash.

Parent, Nicole Estrada, said, “I’ve already said if this had happened to me I probably would have counted it as a loss, but you’re doing this to a group of children. [That’s] not okay. It’s just not okay.”

When Strother wouldn’t repay the money, new Raptors coach, Adam Cherry, and other parents sued her.

That’s where we found her waiting to go before a judge.

News Channel 4’s Scott Hines says, “Bottom line is you accepted cash under the pretense that cash would go towards uniforms and here we are at the end of the season and they still don’t have their uniforms.”

Strother claims she tried purchasing the uniforms online, but couldn’t complete the order because several parents weren’t paid up in full.

What is our business is making sure these kids have uniforms.

We pulled off a big surprise for them, hooking the team up with new uniforms from Rookies Sporting Goods.

Owner, Jami Snell, says, “We’ll have numbers and new jerseys.”
Back in court a judge ruled Strother must pay back the parents.
“Of course,” she said. “I’m not stealing nobody’s money.”

These Raptors have found unity through adversity.

They’ve refused to throw in the towel.

Both sides can put this mess to rest once and for all.

Strother finally made good with the parents, refunding the cash in full.

SPENCER, OKLA. – The Bradleys have spent three decades building a home for children who need one.

They have two foster kids living with them right now, including a 3 year-old with cerebral palsy and his baby sister.

This past Christmas we surprised the family with presents and a brand new swing set from Statuary World.

That’s when we found out the family was facing eviction.

Husband, Carl, can’t work because of a disability.

“I’m putting it in God’s hand and only he can answer prayers,” Marolyn said.

So last week I posted this message on my personal facebook page trying to drum up donations to help keep the family in their home.  

The response was off the chart!

Monday, with the help of a few big-hearted folks, we pulled off the epic surprise.

The Bradleys had no idea we were all coming.

Coryell Roofing pitched in $3500, enough to get the family’s mortgage caught up.

We weren’t done there.

Rob Shahan and Laura Larue launched their own grassroots fundraising campaign rallying friends and local businesses.

The cash will help the family with utilities, groceries, gas and future mortgage payments.

“I want to tell everyone thank you,” Marolyn said. “God knows my heart, but these kids come first.”

It’s a series of teachable moments.

“I wanted my boys to see what it means to take care of others, to help out,” Chris Coryell, owner of Coryell Roofing said.

As we were doing our interview, Carl, still in the dark about our surprise, returned home from running an errand.

Wife, Marolyn, was so choked up she could hardly speak.

One family’s struggle was ended all because of love. 

OKLA. CITY – Marisa Hernandez loves tapping into her creative side.

“I make everything from scratch, she said. “Just take the material, start pinning everything together and that’s what I get.”

She sells her stuff around town and earlier this year purchased vendor space at Trendy Treasures Market.

“We signed in January [and] paid our dues. She was so un-organized. She never got a contract for us.”

The partnership didn’t last long.

Vendors say Trendy Treasure’s owner, Kim Rivera, shut her doors for good last month without notifying anyone first.

Kirsten Mains says Rivera owes her and other vendors a refund.

We’ve learned Rivera is an ordained minister and she obtained her credentials online.

She also claims to run a charity that helps battered woman.

“I was told the money to went Adelpha Ministries,” Mains said. “Anything we paid, whether it was vendor costs or donations or whatever percentage, automatically went to the ministries.

We checked with the state.

Their records show Adelpha Ministries is not registered as a charity in Oklahoma.

For weeks we tried getting in touch with Rivera.

Her phone numbers are no longer in service.

We emailed her and stopped by her house.

We even tracked down her former landlord who tells the In Your Corner team Rivera still owes him rent money.

We’ll keep you posted on things.