Hartley, Iowa — An Everly man has been arrested on a felony theft charge after an incident near Hartley, but north of the county line — in Osceola County.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the Osceola County Clerk of Court’s Office by the county sheriff’s office, 43-year-old Joshua Griffin of Everly is accused of absconding with the payment for parts and labor and never doing the work. He was arrested on Wednesday.
In his statement, the deputy says that in January of 2024, the victim gave Griffin a check for $33,800. Of that amount, $27,800 was to be used to prepay for the purchase of garage doors for the victim’s shop. Griffin allegedly told the victim that he needed the full amount of the cost of the doors before he could order them. Griffin is alleged to have cashed the check and stopped working on the garage the next month. The officer says that in April of 2024, Griffin stopped communicating with the victim and never installed the doors. The deputy says he contacted Griffin, and he told the deputy that he had ordered the doors. The deputy contacted the garage door company to see if the doors had been ordered. He says the door company stated there was only an estimate for the doors, and no order had been placed or money exchanged. The door company did give the deputy the estimate they quoted Griffin. The total of the quote was $20,319.47, which was over $7,000 less than what Griffin told the victim. The deputy checked with the door company about how they handled payments on door orders. The garage door company said they require 50% down on special orders, and the rest of the payment at the time the doors are picked up.
Griffin was charged with first-degree theft, a class C felony. If convicted, Griffin could face up to ten years in prison.
Griffin faces an initial hearing on the charge on June 24th.
