On November 18th, 2018, Dean & Rochelle Truskolaski scammed a man out of hundreds of dollars in fundraising cash, almost another thousand in gift cards and gift certificates and an undisclosed amount of door prizes that were never rendered.  The couple has since blocked the family that was defrauded, offered zero compensation for the theft and even had the audacity to state that they used the stolen money towards putting gasoline in their vehicles.  This is their story…

On Sept. 15th, 2018, Rob Hegedus, a North Ridgeville native, was involved in a very serious collision with a driver going the wrong way on the highway. He sustained multiple injuries which included several broken bones. This was all over the local news, so if you live in Lorain or Cuyahoga County, you likely have heard his story (see: Man Fighting For Justice After Crash)

As a result of the horrific accident, a good friend set him up with a GoFundMe page, and there were two fundraisers set up to help him raise money for his everyday needs.  The primary reason behind the events and fundraisers were because Rob has been wheelchair bound and couldn’t and still cannot walk or work.  Rob’s left hand, foot and ankle were broken. His right wrist, knee, and the bone leading down to his foot, were all broken. He was thrown from his motorcycle and his body and his bike flew over top of the defendant’s vehicle. He spent more than 2 weeks in the hospital and is still currently going through physical therapy. He is not expected to work until at least January.

The Scam

On Sept. 21st, Dean and Rochelle Truskolaski set their scam into motion and contacted the Hegedus family asking if they could set up a fundraiser to help Rob with his everyday needs. Of course the family accepted, it was a nice offer and he needed help. Little did they know at the time, that it would be a scam.  The Truskolaski’s started out saying that they would take care of everything, and then it turned into the Hegedus family having to bear the responsibility of purchasing different sorts of food and odds and ends for the benefit. They came to the family that is in need, and told them they needed to help provide food. Not a huge deal, but not an appropriate one either.

It should be noted that at this point in time the Hegedus family had spent an astronomical amount of money and time towards his recovery.  One should be assume that if people offer to hold a benefit that they’ll take care of everything because they offered the help. The fundraiser was officially held at Eddie’s Club in Elyria on November 18th.

HAWK Says:  These two pieces of shit should be ashamed of themselves. Who the fuck runs a fundraiser and steals half the proceeds in cash and gift card donations? Oh that’s right, a bunch of scumbag degenerates. 

The Specifics

On to the importance of the story, it was presented and advertised in the fundraiser flyer that Rob Hegedus would RECEIVE ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FUNDRAISER TO USE TOWARDS HIS RECOVERY. It was never discussed, nor approved, that these people would end up stealing some of his donation money. At the fundraiser, there was a $10 entry fee per person, that was all supposed to go to Rob (this was stated in the flyer). There were also many raffle baskets and a 50/50 raffle. He did receive the money from the raffle baskets and from the 50/50, but all of the proceeds from the entry fees went into their pockets. They lied about it, and admitted later that they took some of his money to use towards gas.

Lauren Hegedus (Rob’s sister):  “I listened to them tell my brother that they didn’t keep any of the money, that they donated their time and money into his funds and wouldn’t take anything. Little did they know, we counted the funds from the raffle baskets so we knew how much money to expect. After the fundraiser ended, he was handed the specific amount of money that was raised from the baskets, and was told that was all of the proceeds, except it was not.”

“We waited a few days to bring this to their attention that we knew they stole money. They took it without permission, while advertising to the world that ALL THE PROCEEDS WOULD BE DONATED TO ROBERT, which quite possibly might be considered fraud.”

Not So Fun Fact:  Rochelle was warned that the family would be coming after the fundraiser money, and that they would do whatever they needed to, to obtain it. Her immediate response to this was not to make things right and hand over the proceeds, but instead, to block the entire family from Facebook, as if this was going to go away.  They also attempted to collect the money on Saturday, Nov. 24th, and that request was denied by silence and neglect.

The Truskolaski Theft

On the benefit Facebook page, Rochelle advertised that there were 40 gift cards and gift certificates. There were about 10 at the fundraiser, so if there were 40 gift cards donated … where did they go? My sister won one of the door prizes that was supposed to have a gift card to Rodan & Fields in the envelope. When she received it, the envelope was EMPTY. When she asked for her gift card, she was told it was given away as a door prize. The rest of the horrific things Rochelle responded with will remain left unsaid. No gift card was ever produced.

What they stole:

• $350 door cash.
• Missing upwards of 30 gift cards.
• Missing door prizes.
• Estimated Theft of $1,100-$1,450

A Family Outraged

Lauren Hegedus is the sister of Rob Hegedus and had these final words to say on her families behalf.

My brother almost died, and they took a large portion of his proceeds for “gas money”.

My intention for submitting this article is to shed light on people like Dean and Rochelle. They stole money from a person whom they offered to hold a fundraiser for, knowing very well that he needs money to live. DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE AND CERTAINLY DO NOT LET THEM EVER HOLD A FUNDRAISER FOR YOU! I don’t want this to happen to anybody else. Stay away. I want to warn people that there are individuals out there who will take advantage of people who are in need.

My brother almost died, and they took a large portion of his proceeds for “gas money”. I will be doing whatever is necessary to shed light on this situation, and make every attempt to get my brother’s money that people generously donated because they thought he’d be receiving it. I will also be going to the news and to the Elyria Police Department.

Readers Note:  Eddie, the owner of the club had nothing to do with the scam.  The submitter spoke with him at length and was advised as to what happened.  He was not aware that they were going to steal any money from the fundraiser and will no longer be allowing them to hold any additional fundraisers in the future.  

Help Rob Hegedus

For those interested in helping Rob Hegedus financially – you can do so by visiting the established GoFundMe.  As of this writing there has been $3,170 raised.

• https://www.gofundme.com/64mebo0

The Bottom Line:  Individuals who do things like this should be ashamed of themselves.  If they don’t make it right with the family then the family simply needs to go to the Elyria Police Department and press charges on them for theft, fraud and deception.  You can’t host a fundraiser and then take money, gift cards and raffle tickets because you had to fill up your gas tank, that’s not the way the world works scumbags…

SCUMBAGGED Tip:  People just will never learn, even with a threat of a bad reputation or criminal proceeding, nobody gives a shit.  See how they feel a few years down the road when the kids start hopping on the computer and googling up mommy and daddy.  Don’t want to be Scumbagged?  Don’t do Scumbag things like the Truskolaski’s.