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Ed Braaten (Thomison) Flying W Reptiles

royalkreationz

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Location
Lubbock, TX
During the last week of August 2007, I entered into a trade agreement with an individual by the name of Ed Braaten. Our agreement was to trade my breeder male cinnamon pastel and 400g mojave male for three female lemon pastel babies and $700. As per the agreement, I shipped the snakes to Ed on August 30, 2007. Ed was supposed to ship the pastels to me with a check for the mojave inside the box. I sent the snakes on the agreed date of August 30, 2007 with FedEx. This is the email I received from Ed in reference to my handliing of the transaction:
Jody-

Hey thanks for the great transaction, after the deal with the other guy i am really glad this went off so smooth. I will call you now but the tracking number is 863194707095

Fed Ex

Ed
Ed was referring to another deal where he thought he was going to be screwed (how ironic).
When Ed shipped the snakes to me the next day, I opened to box to find no cashier’s check enclosed. The three snakes were in an unlined box, packed in a chinese take out container sealed with packing tape, and wrapped in a white bath towel. I figured the snakes would be dead. The snakes were alive, and I called Ed to ask about the money. Ed said he must have left it lying on the counter at FedEx when he sealed the box before shipping, and that he would go the next day and check. Ed called me and said the check was not at FedEx, and that he went to the bank to have the check cancelled and they would take up to 10 days to re-issue the check. Ed then quit answering my calls and emails in regards to the money.
On September 18, 2007, I drove 500 miles (9 hours) and showed up on his doorstep the afternoon of September 19, 2007 after getting some sleep at a local motel. Ed was so scared that he could not talk without stuttering. He only poked his head around the corner of the door, and would not open the screen door. I told Ed that I either wanted the snake or the money. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, and said he needed 45 minutes to get ready and he would get me the snake. I told him that I wasn’t taking him on a date so he didn’t need to pretty up, and to get some shoes on and get the snake so I could go home. Ed then shut the door in my face. I waited in my truck in his driveway, and about 30 minutes later he called me and said his friend “Nick” had the snake at his house and was going to meet me at the gas station at the end of the road at 4:30 with the snake. I arrived there at 4:25 and waited until 5:00 and no one showed. I then called the Butler Co. Sheriff’s Dept. to have a deputy go to the house with me to try to get the snake back. When the dispatcher trasnferred the call to Deputy Gurley, he advised me that Ed called him while I was waiting in his driveway and said that he did not want me on his property and that if I went back that he would arrest me. I then left to come home.
While on the way home, Deputy Gurley called me and asked me why I went back to Ed’s house after I was told not to? I told him that I didn’t, and that the dispatcher told me that Ed was leaving town when I made the original call to Deputy Gurley. I asked him how Ed could have known if I was there if he wasn’t? Deputy Gurley then threatened me to file charges and stated that it was up to him if he filed a felony or misdemeanor charge against me. Deputy Gurley then tried to ask me in numerous round about ways where I was. I told him it was none of his business. He tried to force me to tell him where I was and the said he wanted to know so that he could notify the proper agency to have me stopped and arrested. I told him I was headed towards Dallas on I35 to stay with a friend for the night, when I was actually in El Reno, OK on I40 going West towards home. Deputy Gurley then told me that if I ever came back to Kansas that he would find a reason to arrest me.
When I arrived home, I was checking my email and received an email from Ed. He told me that I needed professional help and that I had some real issues in my life because I left a message for him that I was going to file on him in civil court in Texas for failing to follow through on his agreement in the trade. In the last line of the email, he stated verbatim…..”you need to do the right thing in life so that life will treat you right…have a good life, and I am through dealing with you.”
Ed also accused me of screwing him on kingsnake.com. This resulted from the following incident. A couple of days after I did not receive the money from Ed, I noticed an ad in the trade section on kingsnake.com. The ad was in reference to trading a walk in incubator and a lemon pastel male for something. I knew from our conversations that Ed was in posession of two items very similar to this. I sent a bogus email from an account that Ed did not know I had offering to trade an ’07 pied male and “06 het pied female for this incubator. Wouldn’t you know that the person who responed to the ad was Ed Braaten, who was using a second account. Because of our transaction, I sent an email to kingsnake.com advising them of the whole situation. I received an email from them with directions about how to formally file a complaint against Ed. I followed all their instructions, and then received an email from them stating that all necessary steps were taken to make sure this problem did not occur again. I know Ed is banned from kingsnake.com because he told me I was wrong for reporting him and getting him banned. The other name he was using on that account was E. Thomison. Incidentally, I have learned that Thomison is his wife’s ex husband’s sir name.
Ed’s contact information is as follows:
Ed Braaten (Thomison)
13463 SW 106th ST.
Rose Hill, KS 67133
816-588-0639
Email; [email protected]
I was a fool for trusting him, and I am sending this email to prevent him from doing this to anyone else. People like this are not good for our hobby. Please forward this to all of you reptile friends so that they may be protected as well.

He has his wife's contact info posted here that he used to contact me after he placed this ad on kingsnake.com. This caused him to be banned from kingsnake.com. I can verify if need be with a forwarded email containing this contact info.
 
New information

This guy continues to send me text messages trying to provoke me. I guess it is not enough what he has done already. I don't know what his motives are, but they aren't good.
 
That sounds absolutly horrible. Do you have any back and forth emails between the two of you or was everything done over the phone? Have you contacted Ed to let him know of this thread? I would love to hear his side of the story as well.
 
He will not answer me

He acts like nothing ever happened. He keeps bragging to me about how he has picked up a fire x butter and a pied. I guess he is operating his business on my money. I wish more people would respond to this thread and maybe he would do the right thing. Most was done over the phone. I do have the text messages that he sent.
 
more.

I found out last night that he talked to another person who is a close friend of mine. He talked trash about me and said I must have been confused about the deal. He even told this other person that he was cheap and wouldn't put a deposit on a snake, but did want it held as if he did. I don't know but this seems kinda weird to me.
 
If you traveled all the way to his home did you ever think about going back and seeking a judgement against him in court. This guy sounds like a real winner. Thanks for posting all his info and sorry you had such bad deal
 
yes

I have filed a civil suit against him in TX. As per our law, if he does not show, I will win by default. I am not suing for the money, but for the possession of the snake. I know he doesn't have the money, but he does have the snake. After the judgement, if he does not ship the snake, he will be held in contempt of court. If that doesn't work, I will file the same thing in his county in KS. I will do the same thing there where he will be required to appear with the snake. If he looses, I get the snake. I am also stipulating that if he does not have the snake, that I get the money. I am also suing for my time away from work, expenses incurred on the trip, ond court costs.
 
Sounds like you have all your ducks in a row. Good luck with everything and keep us posted on how things work out
 
have you looked into the story about the deputy. he could be real or not. it could be one of his friends.
lets here there story
 
I called the Sherriff's Dept. myself.....

and he answered. If he would have called me out of the blue, I would not have believed it. He was a deputy all right, but I was a police officer for seven years and would have told Ed to take care of his business and no one would bother him. When I was an officer, my badge wasn't big enough to hide behind so I didn't let anyone else hide behind it. I am a firm believer in taking care of business, and if you don't then it is up to you to face the music. If you are at fault for something and call the cops to protect you, that is pretty cowardly.
 
I give you a ton of respect for driving to him instead of being taken advantage of. It sucks that the police wouldn't help, but what sucks more is they didn't try taking both sides without immediately threatening you. Let us know how your court date goes, and the outcome.
 
Surely you can file a complaint against the Deputy? What a sad and pathetic excuse of a man.. and fair play to you for driving to his house and fronting him up! That is what needs to happen more often, however, in hindsight, maybe going to the County Sheriff and asking for one of them to go with you might have made things more favourable for you.

I sincerely hope the judge comes down your way, and that you continue to persue him in everyway possible. The best of luck mate
 
Thanks

My position as a former police offier is that no officer's badge is big enough to hide behind for anyone , not even the officer. If that was the case, officers could hide behind their badge and not get shot or hurt by criminals. That being said, I went to handle it man to man. There was no reason to involve the cops by him because he was already in the wrong. I feel that if you create a situation and it goes sour, face the music. Sometimes we have to lay in the bed we make, so I always make it as comfy as possible. I wish he would have come out from behind that door so I could have drug that $700 out of his rear end.
 
I agree with you, and I would be exactly the same way.. however, that Deputy needs to know that he can't just do that kinda shit on people, and a complaint to the regulating authority would sort that out.. and maybe make him think twice before siding in an issue he knows bugger all about. Being an officer means that you should always be objective, and never dismissive... this idiot was obviously neither
 
you are right

he should have told Ed that he made a mess and he had to clean it up. by the officer doing what he did, he just allowed ed to leave the mess for someone else to clean up. i will do that shortly. that officer was a real jerk and a smart ass on the phone.
 
I have contacted Ed to let him know about this thread, I would really like to hear both sides, Ed is very new in this hobby 2-07, not a good way to start off. Hopfully you guys can get this all worked out without the courts involvement.
 
Jody you forgot to mention the phone messages you left on his answering machine, that is not the brightest way to handle a deal gone south. At least I now see why the officer reacted the way we did. I am not sticking up for anyone, I still want to hear both sides right here, but the messages sounded pretty insane.
 
rick c said:
Jody you forgot to mention the phone messages you left on his answering machine, that is not the brightest way to handle a deal gone south. At least I now see why the officer reacted the way we did. I am not sticking up for anyone, I still want to hear both sides right here, but the messages sounded pretty insane.


What messages? Did I mist a posting here? Can somebody please transcribe them? How did you hear them?
 
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