Man gets help from veterans after contractor cons him out of money, tools

A disabled veteran in Cape Coral says a contractor conned him out of money and tools when he asked the man to fix his fence.

But now, a group of volunteers took it upon themselves to help repair it for free.

For veteran Steve Dinwiddie, every day is a challenge.

“My body just hurts all the time,” he said. “I actually got ran over by an 18 wheeler that ran a red light and broadsided my car.”

So when he needed a new fence, he turned to the internet.

“I found someone on Craigslist that claimed he was a navy veteran and said he would do it for what I had left,” Dinwiddie said.

About $600 later, the fence still wasn’t done.

“He just did a few panels and took off with probably close to $200 worth of brand new tools that I bought to do the job,” Dinwiddie said.

That’s where Paul Croteau came in. He and five other veterans stepped up and fixed the fence free of charge.

“It’s almost done, we’re actually working on the gates now and once the gates are done we’ll be all set, he’ll be all good to go,” Croteau said.

The veterans will finish up the project on Monday.