A nonprofit is out $4,300 after a limo company hired to give Eaton Fire survivors a ride to prom was a no-show.
The nonprofit Alice’s Kids wanted to give students at Marshall Secondary School, many of whom lost their homes in the wildfire, a night to remember by covering their prom costs. Actor Steve Carell partnered with the charity to pay for more than 800 prom tickets.
But a limo company hired for the night, Wize Guy Entertainment, turned out to be a scam.
“Cockroach is the word here, just running around doing scams, making $5,000, $10,000 here and here and there and disappearing,” said Ron Fitzsimmons with Alice’s Kids.
Fitzsimmons said the limo company’s owner, Shawn Lasley, took thousands from the charity and then stopped responding to calls and texts.
More than 20 students were left hanging when their limo didn’t arrive. They ended up having to Uber to prom.
“The important thing is that the kids who have just been through absolute hell on earth had a chance to go out and dance and laugh and take pictures and just have a great time, and we'll just move on and they'll move on, but it's an unfortunate lesson,” Fitzsimmons said.
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Calls to Lasley didn’t go through, and Wize Guy Entertainment is listed as permanently closed on Yelp.
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