Limo company accused of scamming nonprofit, standing up Eaton fire survivors before prom
A limo company is accused of taking thousands of dollars that a nonprofit donated to help give young Eaton fire survivors a prom night to remember — then vanishing without a word, leaving two dozen dolled-up teenagers without a ride.
Students at Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, many of whom lost their homes in the January firestorm, were stood up Saturday by limousine service Wize Guy Entertainment, which nonprofit organization Alice's Kids had paid to transport them to the dance, according to the head of the nonprofit.
"Alice's Kids is outraged and heartbroken over the failure of Shawn Lasley, owner of Wize Guy Entertainment, to provide limousine services — for which he was paid $4,320 — services meant to give 24 deserving high school students affected by the Eaton wildfires a special and memorable prom night," Sean Fitzsimmons, Alice's Kids executive director, said in a statement.
Longtime Alice's Kids supporter Steve Carell released a video in March announcing that the Virginia-based nonprofit would donate $175,000 to cover prom tickets for some 800 students at six schools in Altadena and Pasadena. Fitzsimmons then traveled to Los Angeles last weekend to attend a preprom celebration and offered to cover the cost of the limo rides as a bonus.
Read more: Pasadena high school seniors, Steve Carell has a surprise for you: Free prom tickets
Lasley did not respond to The Times' request for comment. The Wize Guy Entertainment website was taken down after a slew of negative reviews were left by furious parents on the business' Yelp page.
Altadena mother Carrie Meyers said she was enraged when she realized that the kids were being stood up. Meyers lost both her home that had been in the family for four decades and her business Steve's Pets, which was founded by her uncle in 1971, to the Eaton fire.
This year has been a nightmare for the whole family, and she said this fiasco on a night that was meant to provide a joyful respite felt like a sucker punch.
Read more: After the Eaton fire, they didn't think prom would happen. Now these teens are ready to dance
Fortunately, the students still made it to prom after parents ordered Ubers for the group, Meyers said. But they did have to miss a professional photo shoot that was scheduled to take place en route.
Fitzsimmons said Alice's Kids is committed to holding the limousine company accountable for the alleged no-show.
"As a nonprofit dedicated to helping children in need, Alice's Kids finds this breach not only unacceptable, but a misuse of charitable funds," he said. "We are demanding a full refund and are prepared to pursue every legal and public avenue to ensure accountability."
Meyers added that parents of the affected teens are also upset.
"The point is, you don't mess with my kids," she said. "All us moms, you don't mess with our kids."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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