Builder accused of fraud escapes from Miss. work detail

Heckman

Santa Rosa Sheriff's deputies are keeping an eye out for James Claude Heckman, a man accused of bilking area homeowners out of thousands of dollars after H u r r i c a n e Ivan.

The Federal Bureau of Inv e s t i g a t i o n a r r e s t e d Heckman in Jackson, Miss. on Dec. 31, 2005 and charged him with grand theft and unlicensed contracting in Santa Rosa County.

Heckman was expected to be extradited to Santa Rosa County this week to face these charges, but he escaped from a work detail on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Heckman, owner of Integrity Building Systems, was hired by a Santa Rosa homeowner to repair property damaged by Hurricane Ivan. According to the homeowner, over a period of weeks, Heckman did not complete any work at the Ceylon Drive home, and walked away with $210,000. The scarcity of building materials after a rough hurricane season prompted Heckman to ask for payment for materials up front. Allegedly, some commodities were purchased, and some preparations were made, but Heckman soon vanished, leaving his subcontractors unpaid and his work unfinished.

Heckman, age 34 is a white male, 6'2", 250 lbs.

Anyone with additional information about this case is encouraged to contact the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office at (850) 983-1100, or Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP.