Crime Blotter
Roofing Insurance ‘Storm Chaser’ Arrested in Fla; Targeted Ill. Residents
A fraudster on the lam for insurance fraud, who left roofing customers in the lurch, is picked up in hurricane-raved Florida

Scott A. Lennington has been accused of defrauding Illinois residents in an insurance roofing scam and was captured in Florida.
— Image courtesy of the QPD/Treasure Island PD
Law enforcement in Pinellas County, Fla., arrested a man last Friday who was accused of defrauding Illinois residents in an insurance roofing scam.
The suspect, Scott Lennington, 48, posed as an insurance adjuster doing roof repair following a June hailstorm in Quincy, Ill., a city of roughly 40,000 located mid-state on the Mississippi River.
According to KHQA-TV, which first reported the story, Lennington allegedly defrauded at least 10 homeowners and, following a police investigation, was indicted by an Adams County, Ill., grand jury. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Investigators learned that Lennington had traveled to Florida following the recent hurricanes. Detectives successfully pinpointed Lennington's location, and on Dec. 13, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office members and the Treasure Island Police Department arrested him.
The Quincy Police Department said the subject would allegedly work with the victim’s insurance company to get a claim for roof damage, never return to do the work, and forge the victims’ names on the checks.
Lennington is cooling his heels in the Pinellas County Jail and is believed to have warrants out of other jurisdictions for similar offenses.
The estimated loss is alleged to be nearly $225,000.
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