JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A local tree trimmer with a lengthy rap sheet is behind bars once again, accused of <\/b>defrauding <\/b>at least two Duval residents. <\/p>\n
Local jeweler Brian Christoff was working at his mother-in-law\u2019s house about a month ago when he said he was approached by Arthur Ayers, who offered to trim one of his trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI already had this one priced at like $1,000 to have this taken down. He goes, I could do it for about $300,\u201d said Christoff.<\/p>\n
Christoff said he took the deal, paid Ayers the $300 and when he finished the job, Christoff asked him about doing a second trimming job on a larger tree.<\/p>\n
But this time, after paying $450 up front, Christoff told Action News Jax he never saw Ayers again.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n And it didn\u2019t take him long to realize something was wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout three hours later when he said he was going to be back. He said, I\u2019m gonna be back in 30 minutes,\u201d said Christoff.<\/p>\n Court documents show Ayers has a lengthy arrest history, with 18 cases dating back to 2011 listed on his most recent arrest report alone.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how many of those arrests led to convictions.<\/p>\n At least three of the cases follow a similar fact pattern where Ayers allegedly requested half the price of a trimming service up front to get supplies and then never returned.<\/p>\n