Driveway pavers who attempted to bully Henrico residents deny any wrongdoing

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - The driveway pavers who tried to bully Henrico residents out of thousands of dollars are denying any wrongdoing.

On Your Side Investigator, Diane Walker tracked them down and even talked with one paver who says he wasn’t there, but his truck was there when workers left a mess of the driveway because the homeowner refused to pay their shocking price.

After following leads, Walker spoke to a man named Jeremy Michael DePasquale by phone about 40 minutes and also through text messages.

He said he loaned his truck to a relative but it wasn’t him. He now wants to “clean up the mess my relatives left.”

Walker called DePasquale’s cell, area code 585 and followed up with this text trying to get his side of the story.

Instead of calling back, he says he gave Walker’s number to his relatives because they had something to say about her first report, which showed pavers digging up the homeowner’s driveway and leaving a pile of asphalt when each refused to pay a higher price.

DePasquale’s relatives called Walker from a 540 area code, and two men pretended to be Jeremy and a woman in the background called her a monkey.

They used derogatory language, denied any wrongdoing and repeated claims that the homeowners are liars who tried to get their driveways paved for free. The people eventually said they are close to Jeremy and that Jeremy is the victim.

Eulette Becoat is one of the victims who says they tried to get her to pay more than what was originally agreed upon.

“$18,000... I said, ‘do you think we have $18,000 to put in a driveway?’ ‘Well, ma’am you already have $8,500 already laid down. We just won’t do the rest of it.’ I said, ‘I don’t want half of my driveway done.’ Oh my God, they were terrible,” Becoat said.

In the call, those relatives said they never quoted $18,000 and claim Becoat told them to tear up her driveway.

The same pavers were caught on home surveillance approaching Terry Howell with the same leftover material at a low-price line. Howell says he stopped them and refused to pay because they were trying to cover more than the section they agreed on.

“He turned the paving machine around and started doing figure 8s on it...and digging it back up...a big mess that has to be gotten up. You can’t drive on it,” Howell said.

Seconds after those relatives hung up, Walker’s phone rang again.

It was DePasquale offering to step up and take care of the homeowners. He asked for their addresses, which Walker declined to give him that information. She told him about his relatives impersonating him and he did not seem upset. Walker asked him why and he said he was on medication.

Maryland Court records show Jeremy Michael DePasquale has recent criminal cases and older ones. According to the clerk’s office, on Jan. 27 a malicious destruction of property and a violating a condition of pretrial release charge were nolle prossed or dropped.

On Jan. 17, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges were nolle prossed or dropped.

He was convicted and sentenced on July 24, 2018, to probation before judgment on assault in the second degree and reckless endangerment charges. DePasquale was sentenced to one year suspended on an assault in the second-degree conviction in 2018. He served two days in jail.

DePasquale said the charges are related to a divorce, not his paving company and he’s seeing a counselor.

Also, Depasquale’s Edgewater, Maryland address that’s listed in court records online is the same address the Department of Transportation has for a truck under an LLC called Official Asphalt, formed in October 2019.

Walker asked him about Official Asphalt during the call but he did not respond. The next day the website was taken down. Walker checked weeks later and it’s up again but with close-ups of people gone.

Walker then Google searched Better Business Bureau records and found DePasquale is listed as the contact for Lane Ways Paving in New York. The Better Business Bureau investigated the company for numerous issues, including licensing and bonding and affiliations with other businesses.

The BBB says the company was unresponsive and is no longer in business, but a quick search in New York found the Lane Ways Paving LLC is still active.

In the meantime, there’s an active police investigation going on right now in Henrico County. An officer said they’re talking to the homeowners and others about the two cases reported on.

Those homeowners in Henrico ended up fixing their own driveways. Henrico police are asking anyone who was approached by these pavers or gave them money, to call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.

Copyright 2020 WWBT. All rights reserved.

Submit a news tip.