Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/305631
love to give a full cash refund as it states in our agreement, unfortunately litigation and expenses have limited our funds." He further wrote, "There will be some that will want to go the litigation route. I would understand this since in the contract it clearly states that its a 100% full refund. YES,, that is EXACTLY what it says. Unfortunately we can- not give all the guest their money back since we have had to litigate this situation. Again, were sorry, but we cannot draw blood from a stone." Among the other victims in the rental fraud case were Ken and Sharon Thibodeau of Howell, MI, who contacted the News Leader earlier this year after reading its articles about Siegel and the Sabal Drive house. Ken Thibodeau provided the following state- ment to the News Leader regarding his family's involvement in the case: "My wife, Sharon, and I were shocked to hear of the 'urine throwing' felony battery charges facing Dr. Craig Siegel, but also felt a bit of a stress relief knowing that he is also being charged with 19 counts of felony Scheme to Defraud after being jailed for the first incident that occurred Monday morning. We knew that the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was working hard on the rental fraud case against Craig Siegel, which kept growing as other people were coming forward with similar complaints to ours. We would like to com- mend the professionalism and hard work that Detective Mark LeFebvre has put forth in this case over the past 4 months. We are trust- ing that Craig Siegel will step up and honor his statement that he made after posting bond and being released from jail when asked, 'So they will get their money back?' and he replied, 'Absolutely. Absolutely.'" Thibodeau was referring to video that accom- panied an April 28 report by Evan Axelback of FOX 13 News in Tampa. Thibodeau added, "If Dr. Craig Siegel does not follow through with refunding our $5,040 immediately, then we are hopeful that the court system will take action and seize all of his properties and assets and consequently force him to pay FULL restitution to all of the victims named in the suit against him." Others victims are in Louisville, KY; Reston, VA; Ballston Spa, NY; Buffalo, NY; Alto, MI; Olathe, KS; Neenah, WI; St. Louis, MO; Old Orcutt, CA; Fairview, NC; North Prairie, WI; Monroeville, PA; Anoka, MI; Warner Robins, GA; Sarasota and Venice, according the Sheriff's Office report. BATTERY ON THE CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER Siegel was charged with Criminal Mischief and Battery on a Code Inspector in connec- tion with April 28 incident involving James S. Holderby of the Code Enforcement Office. The Sheriff's Office report on that incident says Holderby "has been involved in ongoing investigations with [Siegel] with regards to [Siegel's] residence [on Sandy Cove Avenue]. The victim and [Siegel] were in court approx- imately one week earlier, further confirming that [Siegel] was familiar with [Holderby]," the report adds. Sarasota News Leader May 2, 2014 Page 20