An early June trial date has been set for a Missouri contractor charged with taking almost $50,000 from a customer to install an “off grid” solar energy system and failing to do any work.
A judgment of $334,000 has recently been placed against the same man in a Baxter County civil case.
The Baxter County case involved a number of allegations that Eddie Brian Sides and his wife, Stacy, misappropriated assets belonging to the Whispering Oaks Luxury RV Park development to benefit themselves.
The trial date in the Missouri case which was opened after a two-count indictment was handed down by a Texas County, Missouri Grand Jury in late March charging the 49-year-old Sides with stealing and unlawful business practices.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, a victim contacted the Texas County Sheriff’s office in late October last year and reported prepaying slightly more than $49,000 to have Sides install solar panels at this home.
The victim said the payment was made in May of 2022, that work never started and Sides had not paid the victim back any of the up-front money.
According to the probable cause statement, Sides had six months to either start work on the project or return the up-front money and did neither.
Investigators report contacting Sides and being told that the victim’s money had been used to buy materials. It was noted that no materials had been delivered to the job site.
The victim was shown a photo lineup and picked the one of Sides as the person he had hired to do the solar panel work.
There are a number of cases in Missouri alleging basically the same situation. Initially, Sides was accused of taking money from victims of the Joplin tornado to do roof repair but failing to do the work and not repaying the money.
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