Indiana
Lake Co., Indiana pool contractor Michael Nanay charged with theft, fraud; police seek more victims
LAKE COUNTY, Ind. (WLS) — Police in Indiana are asking for the public’s help locating more victims of a Northwest Indiana pool contractor who has been charged with theft and fraud.
The contractor, Michael Nanay, has been arrested and charged, but the Lake County Sheriff’s Department believes more victims could be out there.
Customers said Nanay assured them he could build their dream pool, but tens of thousands of dollars later they said all they are left with are gaping holes in their backyards and their money down the drain.
“It’s horrendous! And if it rains, it’s all mud,” said Jill Hoffman.
Hoffman and her fiancé William Hand said they wanted to build a new pool for their children. Three years later, their kids are what left with what looks like a crater in their back yard.
“I want to cry for them. Three summers they’ve missed out on swimming,” Hoffman said. “They’re crawling up mud to get to their swing set.”
The Dyer couple said they signed a contract with Nanay, of Mad Pools, in 2019 with work to start in 2020.
“They came in around the end of March, beginning of April, super excited,” Hoffman recalled.
But that excitement quickly turned into worry as they said Nanay and his team stopped showing up. While they eventually returned, it didn’t mean more work got done.
“The workers definitely didn’t know what they were doing. We were told they were knew and they didn’t know. You could tell it was a disaster,” Hoffman sad.
The couple said the contractor came back the next month, apologized for the mistakes and started from scratch. But after ripping everything out, they said he left and never came back. Instead, all they got were stories.
“His mother fell and broke her hip,” Hand said Nanay told them. “Another was his mom was in the hospital, and he almost cut off his finger.”
The couple had paid nearly $40,000 up front.
“It’s just heartbreaking. That money’s just gone,” Hoffman said.
Jennifer Krukowski of Cedar Lake, Ind., said Nanay took her money as well; two installments totaling $57,000, and left her backyard wrecked.
“There were a lot of excuses, unreturned phone calls and text messages,” she said.
Krukowski said when she confronted him, Nanay told her he had a stroke and stopped returning her calls.
“We’ve been deceived,” said Krukowski. “We are trusting people and so this hurts. This hurts.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department arrested Nanay and charged him with five felonies, including theft and home improvement fraud.
The department said it’s investigating 15 cases linked to the contractor and believe more victims could be out there.
“Some of these people are out $50,000, $60,000, $80,000, $100,000,” said Michael Stewart of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. “What it has turned into is kind of like a pool Ponzi scheme almost. They way that it has been described is robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Nanay pleaded not guilty. Over the phone, he told the ABC7 I-Team he was trying to finish the pools and work with people as best he can. He said he had a stroke last year, which left him partially blind, and said his employees took off while he was in the hospital. He said despite his back being against the wall, “I haven’t disappeared. I’m still here.”
He also said bad press will only make him lose more work, which will prevent him from paying his customers back. But the homeowners said they will continue to speak out.
“This guy had a thousand chances. He could have made this right. He could have been honest and he didn’t. So don’t feel bad, come forward and make it stop,” Hoffman said.
Nanay has been released on bond and his next court date is July 25.
Indiana
Indiana man arrested after allegedly aiming rifle at officer during standoff
SCHERERVILLE, Ind. – An Indiana man is in custody after pointing a gun at an officer during a standoff in Schererville, police said.
The incident began at 11:18 a.m. Thursday at Springvale Drive and Orchard Court.
According to police, a man was seen walking around the neighborhood, screaming and stabbing garbage cans before retreating into his home.
When officers approached the house, the man allegedly came to the door holding a rifle and aimed it at an officer, authorities said. The officer fired at the man, who then retreated back inside.
The incident prompted a SWAT response, and residents were advised to avoid the area until the situation was resolved.
Following negotiations, the man surrendered to law enforcement and was taken into custody.
We’ll bring more updates to this story as they become available.
Indiana
Remains found in area where Southern Indiana woman went missing in September
Jamey Noel case: Judge sentences former sheriff, condemns him
Judge Larry Medlock admonished Jamey Noel for his actions before accepting a plea agreement. Noel will serve 12 years in prison and three years probation.
Officials are awaiting forensic results after remains were located in the area where a Southern Indiana woman went missing in September.
A Facebook post from Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin stated deputies and Indiana State Police detectives discovered human remains Tuesday on a wooded property in the area where 40-year-old Amanda Martin was last seen. A forensic examination has been scheduled with results expected in six to eight weeks.
“We are saddened by the discovery of the remains discovered yesterday, but we also realize a family can now possibly begin to heal,” Goodin said. “This is an active investigation, and I personally appreciate the help from our law enforcement partners. Together, we continue to seek a factual conclusion about what happened here.”
Previous Facebook posts from the sheriff said Martin was last seen on Sept. 13 and reported missing to local officials on Sept. 24, believed to have gone missing in the area of Frog Pond Road in eastern Scott County. Deputies say numerous attempts to locate her had “not been successful” and they felt she was “in extreme danger due to a medical or mental illness.”
Martin’s family was offering a reward of $1,500 to find her, Goodin said, mentioning assistance from Indiana State Police and other local law enforcement agencies in the search.
“We’re not going to stop looking until we locate Amanda,” Goodin previously said, also mentioning they’d searched the Blocher area of Scott County where she had gone missing with dogs, drones, and on foot.
The investigation remains ongoing, and officials encourage anyone with information to call 812-752-5550.
Indiana
What Teri Moren, Sydney Parrish Said After Indiana’s 56-46 Loss at Butler
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana fell to 1-2 on the season after a 56-46 loss to Butler Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Hoosiers shot 34% from the field and turned the ball over 16 times, leading to their second straight loss.
Here’s what coach Teri Moren and senior guard Sydney Parrish said after the loss.
Opening statement
Moren: “Disappointed once again. “Some of our issues continue to be some of our issues. We’re not taking care of the ball. We’re not shooting the ball particularly well. I thought, defensively, there were moments that we were really good, but we couldn’t finish plays, gave up 11 offensive rebounds. I thought Butler, give them credit, they played with a greater sense of urgency, which we knew that they would. We’re not naive to think that teams like Butler, like Harvard aren’t gonna gives their very best. So give them credit. I thought they played well tonight. We did not. We still have a lot of things that we have to work on in order for us to continue to get better and want to do the things we want to do. Once again, disappointed, but I still love this group and I think that we have a ton of potential. We’re just having to work through some things right now, so we’re gonna continue to fight and get back to Bloomington and continue to do that work that’s required and know that we know that we need to play better than we have been playing and we will.”
On if the team’s lack of urgency is more concerning than its shooting woes…
Moren: “Well I mean, you have to play with a level of urgency and especially coming off the loss to Harvard. So it’s disappointing that that lacked tonight, because it’s always – I used the word perplexing last time, too. But I’d say we had a great shootaround this afternoon, kids were locked in, had tremendous energy. The six days off were good for us. We could go back and watch a lot of film, talk to them about how much better we needed to be. They were receptive to that, and it’s just disappointing that we came in here tonight and had moments where, you know, we had the lead, then let it go and then just down the stretch there couldn’t get the stops we needed and/or the scores.”
On why the team has had so many simple turnovers…
Moren: “It’s a good question. I want everybody to keep in mind we are short the two guards, with Lexi and Beau, so those guards – Shay and Chloe and Yarden – are playing a lot of minutes for us out on the perimeter and they do a lot of chasing around with teams like Butler that run a lot of actions. So whether you want to call it focus, lack of, or fatique creeps in, but we still I think are mature enough and old enough to know better and know how important taking care of the ball is.”
On how surprised they are at the last two games based on Indiana’s past success…
Moren: “Let’s don’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s only game three now.”
Parrish: “It’s game three. We’re fine. It’s game three. It sucks. It hurts. It hurt last game. We’re about to face a really good Stanford team, and we gotta be better.”
On Butler’s defensive pressure on the perimeter taking Indiana out of its offense…
Moren: “Absolutely, and I think Harvard did the same thing. We just talked to the kids about it, and that is so bothersome to our staff and I know our players. You could use the term soft. You could use it. That’s part of the game plan for Indiana, is to be super physical with our guards. They don’t like that. But we have to recognize that, and we gotta bow up and be better. We just gotta be tougher. We gotta be more physical, embrace it, and realize that’s what teams are doing to us. They really try to be physical, especially in the first couple minutes of the game, and it’s really stifling. They stifled us. So yeah, it’s a problem.”
On how Indiana will go about fixing offensive struggles…
Moren: “We gotta remain confident, right, that we still have an old team, and the things that we have in, we gotta, offensively, look a lot better. Again, it starts with taking care of the ball. It starts with embracing the physicality. But it starts with we gotta shoot the ball better. We had some great looks tonight that just didn’t go down. You know, when was the last time this group had six assists and shot 34%, 35 from the 3-point line. We have a – we’re not connecting right now on shots. It’s a hard game when you can’t score. It’s a hard game.”
On how much of an adjustment it’s been to play without Mackenzie Holmes…
Moren: “Well, certainly you miss Mackenzie, but I miss Sara Scalia too, right. Lilly has to be better. Striplin has to be better. There’s no other way to say it. Those two have to be better for us. We have to have great balance. We have to have an inside presence, and Lilly, this was not one of her best games and she knows that. But Strip has to give us something, too, when we go to our bench.
On how Indiana can stay positive after this loss…
Parrish: “We talk a lot in the locker room, so that’s good. Make sure we hold people accountable when it’s needed. At the end of the day, like coach said, we have to shoot better. We know that. We’re due. I’m due. Lilly knows she has to be better. Our guards know that we have to take care of the ball better. But we also have to get stops and offensive rebounds, and that’s just hustle and grit and playing tough, and we don’t want that to be our identity as a team. I think in the past, people have been scared to play us because of how gritty and tough we are and how we’ll knock people on their butts and blocked people out and push it. And I don’t think we saw that tonight. But it starts with Chloe and I being leaders of this team, shooting it much better, facilitating it much better, boxing out. I had a huge loss of a box out at the end of a free throw. It’s all of us. But we’re gonna stay together, we’re gonna be good, and we’re excited to show everyone that we can bounce back.”
On her approach to being a leader during the team’s slow start…
Parrish: “Yeah, I think there’s also so much we can say, but also Yarden, Karoline, Shay, they’ve played three-plus years of college basketball in the SEC, the Big Ten. We’re a veteran group and this should really make us mad, because we are so much better than that. So much better than that.”
-
Health7 days ago
Lose Weight Without the Gym? Try These Easy Lifestyle Hacks
-
Culture6 days ago
The NFL is heading to Germany – and the country has fallen for American football
-
Business5 days ago
Ref needs glasses? Not anymore. Lasik company offers free procedures for referees
-
Sports6 days ago
All-Free-Agent Team: Closers and corner outfielders aplenty, harder to fill up the middle
-
News3 days ago
Herbert Smith Freehills to merge with US-based law firm Kramer Levin
-
Technology4 days ago
The next Nintendo Direct is all about Super Nintendo World’s Donkey Kong Country
-
Business1 day ago
Column: OpenAI just scored a huge victory in a copyright case … or did it?
-
Health1 day ago
Bird flu leaves teen in critical condition after country's first reported case