May 2, 2009
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

DEPUTIES CHARGE DELAND MAN WITH ELDERLY EXPLOITATION

At first, it seemed as though Donald Hierspiel was being a friend to the 83-year-old DeLand woman, helping her fix up her mobile home so a relative could live in it. But after more and more money was collected from the woman, with little or no evidence of repair work being done, it appeared that rather than befriending the woman, he was ripping her off.

Even the victim didn’t know how much she had paid the man over the past six months. He claimed it was about $5,000. The woman guessed it was closer to $10,000. However, after gathering up her bank records for Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies, the woman discovered she had actually given Hierspiel 22 checks totaling $19,445. After a five-day investigation, deputies had seen enough. On Friday, they arrested Hierspiel on one count of exploitation of an elderly/disabled person.

The victim lives at another house in DeLand, but called deputies on Monday to complain that people she didn’t know were going into her mobile home on 1st Court in DeLand. But when deputies started investigating, they got the feeling that the woman was being taken advantage of. She said her mobile home is vacant, but she has been paying Hierspiel to fix it up for her daughter. Lately, though, the woman said Hierspiel had been collecting more and more money to repair damage he claimed was being done by vandals. But when deputies checked out the mobile home, they noted that it was in very poor condition and saw no outward signs of any recent repairs. Then one of Hierspiel’s neighbors said he had been bragging that the more he breaks in the mobile home, the more the owner pays him to fix it. Deputies also spoke to a contractor who said that Hierspiel had paid him $400 to replace the windows in the mobile home. The 47-year-old Hierspiel had charged the victim $2,600 for the work. Wanting no more part of the job, the contractor was escorted to the victim’s home by a deputy and returned the $400 to her.

Hierspiel, who lives in DeLand and has known the victim for several years through one of her relatives, was picked up at his home on Friday without incident after Circuit Court Judge Hubert L. Grimes issued an arrest warrant. Hierspiel remains in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on $100,000 bond.