Flash Shelton, a handyman with experience in removing squatters, has recently made headlines after he helped an elderly woman reclaim her home from Iron Chef winner and Umami Burger founder Adam Fleischman.
Shelton arrived at the Hollywood house after the woman, named Claudia, contacted him. He filmed the situation and confronted Fleischman, posting the content on his YouTube page in the hope of drawing enough media attention to evict him.
The chef said he had intended “to pay rent and to be a normal tenant” but hasn’t paid a single dollar because he wasn’t given a lease when he moved in.
Image credits: gettyimages.dk
“I haven’t paid rent because intentionally, she wouldn’t provide keys or an agreement, etc. etc.,” he told Fox News Digital. “Landlords or those renting a room have responsibilities.”
He added: “She did not ask for rent for the first 2-3 months. I figured she had some credit or something.”
Additionally, though he has admitted to not paying rent, Fleischman said that he doesn’t consider himself a squatter.
Thanks to Claudia and Shelton’s joint efforts, the Umami Burger founder left the house on Oct. 2 after several months of occupation.
“How is four months so long? Baffled. It’s not like I’ve been here for years,” Fleischman said after moving out of the home.
According to the chef, he didn't have to pay rent because the owner never gave him a lease
Image credits: Outside The Box with Flash
Image credits: Outside The Box with Flash
The incident began when Claudia, who has been renting the house for 29 years, posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a new tenant.
Soon after, she received a message from Fleischman, and the two made an agreement to host dinner parties at the house, charging customers for the experience.
“He said a partnership with us would pay for the entire home,” Claudia said.
She decided to place her trust in the chef given his reputation as a restaurateur. “I felt if he’s had that much success, maybe he knows how to be successful.”
Claudia didn’t provide him with a lease because, as another tenant explained, she always “goes off of her heart.”
In addition to squatting Claudia's home, Fleischman used her credit card to buy food and other cooking supplies
Image credits: Outside The Box with Flash
After Fleischman failed to pay following the first event, which took place in April, Claudia realized that the chef had used her credit card to buy ingredients and other supplies.
Upon confronting him about the situation, she was told that she’d have to wait for the next event to get her payment, which, eventually, she never received.
“He did not pay me, and he used my credit card and forged my signature to buy the food for the event, and I knew I was in trouble,” Claudia said. “He was just a con man.”
“We kept telling him for months to leave, but he refuses, and the police say it’s illegal to make him leave or to lock him out.”
"We kept telling him for months to leave, but he refuses, and the police say it's illegal to lock him out," the elderly woman said
Image credits: Outside The Box with Flash
While Fleischman still denies having used Claudia’s credit card, the woman offered Fox News Digital a bank statement showing a disputed charge on her account with a note specifying that it was under investigation.
The Iron Chef winner has referred to the accusations as “made-up stuff from a crazy person.”
Once it became clear to her that she’d been the victim of a con man, Claudia knew the right person to call.
Shelton had gained online notoriety for removing squatters from his own mother’s home.
After the Los Angeles Police told the woman that they couldn’t intervene because the squatting was a “civil” matter and resolving it would take months, the duo had to find other means to evict Fleischman.
The handyman then decided to install cameras around the house with the permission of the LAPD. As he was told, the only place he couldn’t place the cameras was the bedroom occupied by the squatter.
Handyman Flash Shelton confronted the squatter and installed cameras around the house that showed him speculating about Claudia's death
Image credits: Outside The Box with Flash
In one of the clips, Fleischman can be seen telling two men, “After she dies, I’ll give you guys first shot at the rooms.”
Eventually, the squatter moved out after Shelton discovered the chef would have to take him to civil court if he were to lock the door.
“I asked [Fleischman] if he had any guilt whatsoever, felt any obligation to her, and he said, ‘Absolutely not,’” Shelton told Fox News Digital. “I’m just trying to understand where his head is and how he could live like this.”
“I asked him if he felt that he owed her any money and if he realizes that he has basically broken this woman,” the handyman continued. “He just says that it’s not his fault.”
You can watch Shelton expose the celebrity chef below
Claudia suffers from brain damage caused by an auto accident. As a result of the squatting, she suffered a great deal of stress and is now facing bankruptcy.
“Being elderly, recently losing my spouse, and having a brain injury from an auto accident is overwhelming enough, and now this nightmare that I have to face alone,” she said.
As of today, the restaurant owner has not been accused of or charged with any criminal conduct.
People sided with the homeowner and called for squatter laws to change
