BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Bradford deputies arrested a 53-year-old Lake City man after a State Medicare fraud investigator claimed the man took thousands of dollars out of his father’s checking account, leaving the Starke nursing home resident with 60 cents.
James William Dixon Jr. was arrested for grand theft.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the investigation arose from a Florida Department of Children and Families case in which the victim said his son had made multiple withdrawals from his account and had bought a pickup using the victim’s money.
The victim told the Medicare fraud investigator that he gave his son his ATM card after the younger man threatened to assault him if he did not hand the card over.
“(The victim) explained that his son, James Dixon Jr., removed him from the facility and asked for his debit card,” the investigator wrote in a warrant affidavit. “(The victim) stated when he refused to give him the card, the subject stated, ‘I will whip your ass and take it away from you.’ (The victim) said he complied because he didn’t want to get beat up.”
The investigator wrote that he reviewed the victim’s bank statements, which he found in the defendant’s truck.
“The statements revealed (the victim’s) account had a balance of $48,623.67 on 02/23/2023 and an ending balance of $0.60 on 07/10/2023,” wrote the investigator.
The detective said Dixon withdrew cash from the account using Cash App, debit card purchases, and a $14,000 check, which the defendant used to purchase an F-150 pickup.
