Man charged with scamming elderly

A Russellville man accused of scamming an elderly lady in December of 2009 was arrested this week and authorities said other charges could be pending.
Robert Tollison, 65, 1104 Mullins Ave., Russellville, was charged with second-degree theft of property by deception, Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said.
According to Oliver, investigators at the sheriff’s office received information this week that an 83-year old Franklin County woman was out approximately $1,000 in a deal involving Tollison that allegedly turned out to be a scam.
Oliver said Tollison does transmission work and the elderly woman told investigators that she was approached by Tollison on Dec. 23, 2009, and asked to go in with him on a deal to buy salvaged transmissions that he would then fix up and sell for a higher price.
Oliver said the woman gave Tollison approximately $1,000 to buy the salvaged transmissions and Tollison allegedly told her he would split the profits with her once the transmission were fixed and sold.
“The lady has apparently been asking about these transmissions for a couple of years now and every time she asked, he would give her the run around,” Oliver said.
“He just kept putting her off and telling her she’d get her money soon.”
Oliver said the woman finally became suspicious when a man she knew recently came to her and said Tollison offered him the same exact deal.
“The man told her that Tollison said if he’d go in with him and split the cost of a salvaged transmission, he’d fix it up and sell it and they’d split the profits,” Oliver said. “She knew then that she had been scammed and reported it to us.”
Oliver said the investigation is still pending and Tollison could face additional charges.
“It’s just sad when someone tries to take advantage of the elderly,” Oliver said. “We’re just glad we found out about this before he could scam anyone else in the area.”