North Fort Myers insurance agent accused of grand theft and embezzlement

An insurance agent is behind bars charged with grand theft and embezzlement.

Reid McDaniel was an agent at McDaniel Insurance Solutions in North Fort Myers. Lee County deputies took McDaniel to jail.

We spoke with two businesses that have used the McDaniels agency. One said they couldn’t believe he got arrested for embezzling money.

“I don’t think it still quite sunk in yet. You were just shocked is the best I can say,” said Gregg Martin, president of Eagle Roofing and Restoration.

Martin was shocked to learn that his next-door neighbor of three years, McDaniel, had been arrested and charged with embezzlement and grand theft.

“We were neighboring tenants. I mean, of course, you talk and socialize or personalize whatever you want to say. Never did I see it, never did I expect it; it was definitely shocking yesterday,” Martin said.

We asked Martin if he had received any calls about McDaniel since the arrest.

“There have been phone calls now calling us asking questions. Of course, we have no answers for them, but we have had several people come in and lots of phone calls today,” he said.

We looked up his reviews, which were all pretty positive up until recently with one similar complaint that no one ever picks up the phone.

We spoke with Jeff Lange, the owner of Ten28 Construction Group, who used McDaniels for a year and a half.

He told us they were always ready to accept payment, but when it came to questions, no one would pick up the phone or you would get hung up on, which is why he switched insurance agencies.

And Martin is now in the process of switching.

“Trying to pick up the pieces and figure out what the next steps are and what we can do or what we need to do,” Martin said.

We reached out to McDaniel, and his phone number is no longer in service.

This is still an ongoing investigation, so we will keep pushing for more information.