JOPLIN, Mo. —
When Bridgett Bonds opened her home to a man claiming to be a homeless victim of the May 22 tornado, she never dreamed she would wind up in handcuffs.
The Joplin woman says she was conned by a man she described as “smooth, really smooth.” Now she is dealing with the emotions of victimization.
And authorities say Larry Butler, 55, has pulled the same scam elsewhere: He is charged with felony theft in Pulaski County.
“I feel violated even though I wasn’t touched,” Bonds said. “It’s difficult for me to let anybody into my home, so I have more trust issues than I did before.”
According to Bonds and police reports, Butler contacted women on the online dating site PlentyOfFish.com and pretended to be a displaced tornado victim in need of shelter. In reality, Butler was homeless long before the tornado and was not a resident of Joplin. He was a convicted felon serving five years of probation for auto theft and credit card theft in Jefferson County.
TV, JEWELRY STOLEN
After the EF-5 tornado struck Joplin, authorities say, Butler contacted Pattie Murphy, of Waynesville, through PlentyOfFish.com.
Murphy told authorities that she let Butler stay at her home overnight. He is charged with stealing about $15,000 worth of property from Murphy’s house while she was at work. The stolen items included a television set, baseball cards, jewelry and clothing.
Butler then returned to the Joplin area, and Bonds said that’s when he approached her about staying in her home. She said she had met Butler on a canoe trip in Pineville organized by PlentyOfFish users, and he seemed “a perfect gentleman.”
Bonds said Butler moved into her home in early June. She said she told him he was not allowed to be in her house alone, so when she needed to go grocery shopping on Saturday, June 4, he offered to drive her.
As the two were leaving the Sam’s Club parking lot in Joplin they were stopped by Joplin police officers who responded to a call identifying a stolen truck.
Police say the truck Butler was driving was stolen in April in Cherokee County, Kan.
Butler, police said, got out of the truck and told them, “You got me.” Then he told them, “The lady in the truck is not involved and hasn’t done anything wrong.” Bonds was briefly detained and then was driven home by police.
“It’s sad that somebody is willing to lie and put people in situations they would have never been in,” Bonds said. “I wouldn’t have been in handcuffs, I wouldn’t have been brought home in a police car. I’m grateful (the police) were there. I’m grateful they pulled us over.”
Prosecutor Kevin Hillman, of Pulaski County, said in a statement Monday that “the suspect’s manipulation of the terrible tragedy that occurred in Joplin will not be tolerated.”
WORDS OF CAUTION
Although Bonds feels victimized, she said it won’t stop her from trying to help those in need. She said people who think about sheltering strangers in their home should be cautious.
“Have them checked out,” she said. “There are a lot of people around here that are taking advantage of the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. You shouldn’t let it hinder you from helping anybody in any way that you can, but you have to protect yourself, and you need to go through the proper channels to make sure that these people really are from a disaster area, not just con artists trying to use and abuse.”
In jail
LARRY BUTLER was being held Monday in the Newton County Jail on $10,000 cash bond, awaiting authorities from Pulaski County.
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