Two days ago, Ed Niedermeyer received a tip from an anonymous tipster that James Sikes, the guy who couldnât stop his runaway Prius until a cop pulled up next to him and told him to, is, well, a bit exposed.
The tipster pointed out that a James Sikes had also started a business called Adultswinglife, LLC. A look at the phone numbers showed that Adult Swing Life LLC (619) 957-7355 shared the same phone number as the real estate business of Patty & Jim Sikes (619)-957-7355. We left it at that. Times are rough, and one needs to find extra streams of income.
A few hours later, an anonymous poster that went by the name âCincyJazzyâ posted on the CBS news website that Sikes âis caught in 2 attempts to defraud his insurance company out of $60K, Just lost his house, and was fired for âunethical behaviorâ, in the middle of bankruptcy, and now this.â No reaction from CBS.
Then, nothing. Until ...Yesterday, Jalopnik was on the story. First, they had not much else to report than the swinger site. One of the Jalopnik commenters pointed out that Jalopnik has âa sibling siteâ called Fleshbot (definitely NSFW), so whoâs to throw the first stone? That didnât deter the Jalops. They kept on digging.
Through adroit use of Google, they found that someone had posted on Hobbub.com that in a foreclosed house, previously owned by a Jim and Patti Sikes, âbefore giving possession back to the bank âsomeoneâ stole the ENTIRE kitchen out of the houseâ¦â¦â¦.Granite countertops, cabinets, appliances and even the lights!â
Jalopnik decided that something was fishy, and, Fleshbot be damned, they called up their colleagues at Gawker. They fired up their public records search engine â and found a – by Jalopnik standards – morass of incriminating information about Sikes.
This led to the Jalopnik headline âDid Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Fake “Unintended Acceleration?” They unearthed a bankruptcy filing that allegedly (it was redacted) said that the Sikes âhave a combined liability of over $700,000 dollars in debt.â According to the document, Toyota Financial Services was named as a creditor to the tune of $20,494, owed at the time of bankruptcy. Jalopnik contrasted this to an email they received from Jim Sikes that claims âwe are and have always been up to date on all payments.â
Then, Jalopnik heard ârumors that Sikes has a history of items in his possession being stolen and him filing for insurance claims.â The bankruptcy documents named a saxophone and clothes, stolen from a car (of unnamed provenance) with a value of $2500, and an insurance payment of $7.500.
After that, all hell broke loose. Fox News âuncovered a new business that Sikes appears to have started: the website AdultSwingLife.com.â (Well, they didnât uncover it, it was the anonymous tipster, but hey, itâs Fox.) We would have expected some on-premises candid camera work, but no. Fox did their own internet search and found more dirt on Sikes:
âIn 2001, Sikes filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff’s Department for $58,000 in stolen property, including jewelry, a prosumer mini-DV camera and gear, and $24,000 in cash.â Sikes seems to be a victim type.
Fox found âa neighbour near Sikes’ former home in Atwaterâ who said “I’m not surprised [if] he’d try to get money.”
Fox also found âa spokesperson with Toyotaâ who told FOX40 News “they’re aware of Sikes’ background.â (Hmmmmmm.)
The breathtaking piece of investigative reporting brings Fox to the conclusion: âWhile the California Highway Patrol doesn’t question his story, bloggers and radio listeners are wondering whether this is another âballoon boyâ style hoax, done for the publicity or the money.â
Ever since, speculations of a hoax by a couple with a salacious sidebusiness are all over the web and social network sites. What took them so long? (Hat tip to Jalopkink: In 10 minutes on Public Records, they found more than Fox in a day.)
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