Gulf Breeze builder allegedly pointed gun at process server after being sued for fraud

A Gulf Breeze builder was charged with assault after he allegedly pulled a gun on a civil process server when being served in a fraud lawsuit alleging he overcharged for a Pensacola Beach home renovation by more than $1.2 million.

Michael Mabire is charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault with a weapon for allegedly pulling a gun on a civil process server while she was serving him a notice that he and his business partner were being sued.

Mabire's business partner is Jesse Casey, a county employee who works as an aide to District 1 Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh. Mabire performs work under Casey's general contractor license.

Casey was served notice of the lawsuit on March 7, according to court records.

A woman civil process server and her husband attempted to serve the notice of the lawsuit Tuesday to Mabire in the 2800 block of Reservation Road in the Gulf Breeze area, according to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office arrest report.

She told police she had previously attempted to serve Mabire on March 8.

Process serving goes wrong

The woman told police she entered Mabire's property through an unlocked gate and knocked on the front door. Mabire appeared coming around the side of the building, pointing a black handgun at the woman, according to the arrest report.

Mabire told the woman she was trespassing. The woman explained she was there to serve court papers and held up her process server identification card attached to a lanyard. Mabire continued to point the gun at her and said, "Leave now," the woman told police.

The woman backed away and dropped the paperwork on the ground. While walking away, she told Mabire he'd officially been served. Once outside the gate, Mabire continued to point the gun while approaching the woman and her husband, who was filming the incident on his cell phone, the report said.

Mabire told police he did not point the gun at anyone and provided surveillance footage to the police. The officer who reviewed the video said he observed Mabire point the gun at the woman and, based on the video and statements, arrested Mabire.

Mabire was released from jail on a $10,000 bond Tuesday evening. The News Journal was unable to reach Mabire for comment.

Pensacola Beach residents Daniel and Melissa Hecht brought the lawsuit that resulted in the confrontation at Mabire's home.

Pensacola Beach Renovation

The Hechts' lawsuit alleges that Mabire and Casey, who do business together as Michael Mabire Construction Co. Inc., fraudulently misrepresented cost estimates and unlawfully deprived the Hechts of their Pensacola Beach home. The lawsuit also accused Mabire and his company of unjust enrichment.

Michael Mabire Construction Co. Inc. operates under Casey's general contractor license with the state of Florida, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's website.

The lawsuit alleges that Casey applied for all of the permits in the home renovation project and must have "known or should have known" Mabire's activities as vice president of his construction company.

Casey has run multiple times for the District 1 county commission seat as a Republican and, in the 2020 Republican primary, came in second in a four-way race behind Bergosh.

Bergosh hired Casey to be his commissioner's aide last year.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Casey told the News Journal he couldn't speak about the issue at that time because he was at work, but said he believed "it will have a positive outcome."

The renovation project began in 2022 while the Hechts were in the process of purchasing the Pensacola Beach home from a "trusted friend" who recommended Mabire for the renovation work to move a bathroom, removing "a few walls," and removing kitchen cabinets at a verbal "ballpark figure" of $200,000.

The work began before the Hecht's closed on the home and without a signed construction contract, according to the lawsuit.

According to county property records, the Hechts purchased the home for $1.55 million.

'Inflating' project costs

The lawsuit lays out a pattern of expanding the work and starting without notice to the Hehcts while taking months to provide a full cost estimate. Bills for the project were "greatly exaggerating and inflating the project costs," the complaint said.

The lawsuit alleges that after more than a year of work, Mabire and Casey have failed to justify the total $2.7 million paid by the Hechts with contracts, agreements or other documents as required by Florida law.

The project began a month before the Hechts closed on the home.

Daniel Hecht visited the home and discovered that Mabire had "demolished all of the interior walls" and ripped out sections of the ceilings. The Hechts had not requested some of the work, the complaint said.

The Hechts had not been advised in advance or been provided a written estimate and weren't provided a written estimate until August 2022, when the estimated cost had reached $1.6 million, according to the complaint.

The complaint said that Hecht had "no viable option other than to acquiesce" because he didn't officially own the home and felt he could not back out of the sale without forcing his friend who he was buying the home from to pay for the work.

The work continued after the Hechts officially purchased the home in June 2022.

On Aug. 31, Mabire provided a written cost estimate of nearly $1.6 million, but the itemized cost included in the estimate only totaled $365,483, according to the complaint. The Hechts were "astonished" by the high estimate.

In October 2022, Casey applied for a permit for the project, which described the work as "complete teardown and renovation."

Despite the high costs, Hechts continued to pay invoices for the work and, in January 2023, asked for the project to be expanded to include the addition of a pool and an elevator. The pool was estimated at $87,000 and the elevator at $50,000, but they were ultimately billed $281,670 in an invoice that included the pool and elevator with no explanation of the additional cost.

Work continued through September 2023, and the Hechts paid $2.7 million in invoices in total, even though the home "was not finished and had multiple defects."

The complaint claims that similar projects cost $1.5 million in the Escambia County market.

The Hechts received another bill in October 2023 for an additional $100,136, which they refused to pay.

The complaint said multiple subcontractors on the project informed the Hechts that Mabire had not paid them for the work they've performed on the house.

The complaint said the home has defects related to water retention on its new decks and stairs, as well as missing ceilings on the ground floor, that Mabire's company has failed to fix.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gulf Breeze contractor Michael Mabire facing fraud assault allegations