NE police say beware ‘extra asphalt’ contractors

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    BELLEVUE, NE (WOWT ) — It’s construction season and beware of offers to sell you leftover material at a bargain price. That warning comes out of Bellevue where a senior citizen has been approached.

When Dave McClure isn’t taking it easy, he’s a rider.

“Yeah, I like to live like that — on the edge,” McClure said.

And he almost fell for a sales pitch from a drive-by asphalt contractor.

“He said, ‘I got a good deal for you, we’re doing a job here in the area and we’ve got this extra dumptruck of asphalt that we need to get rid of and we can bring it over here and put it on your driveway,’” McClure said.

McClure said the contractor wore an orange vest and drove a newer white pickup with no markings.

“We have had lots of situations similar to this where we have individuals knocking on doors of some of our homeowners and basically trying to take advantage of them,” said Bellevue Police Lt. Andy Jashinske.

The Better Business Bureau has yearly complaints on leftover asphalt offers.

“Every time we send experts out to look at the work, they’ll find an extremely thin layer of asphalt — horrible workmanship,” said Jim Hegarty, president of the Nebraska BBB.

The contractor who approached McClure needed a peddler’s permit, and the Bellevue City Clerk’s Office does not have one listed for any asphalt sales.

The condition of McClure’s driveway seems to attract driveby offers of a quick fix. A couple years ago, someone came by and sold him on sealant that didn’t last.

So this time he remembered the red flag.

Though $300 a square yard for laid down asphalt was tempting.

“I said I got to discuss this with my wife first, I don’t do nothing without working with her. That’s the only thing that saved me from doing it,” McClure said.

The contractor promised to return the next day — but a week later he has not come back.

A street construction engineer said for the quoted price, the customer should expect asphalt up to an inch and a half thick. Bellevue police said if a drive-by contractor approaches a homeowner in their city, they should report it before writing a check.

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