Prior to his legal adventures in Levy County, Florida, Jeremy Hales developed his craft in Wooster, Ohio in Wayne County.
While there, he didn’t pay his HVAC bill, sped, allegedly committed burglary, and turned his squatting into YouTube content.
His torturous YouTube strategy was first formed there.
The burglary
On March 27, 2017, Hales walked into his then estranged girlfriend’s home uninvited. He claimed to be there to dropping off flowers and chocolates, only he didn’t have flowers and chocolates.
He was confronted by her dad. He left quickly after the confrontation.
After leaving, the Wooster, Ohio Police were called. The subsequent investigation led to a probable cause statement and arrest.
What happened after that is a mystery. The case doesn’t appear on the Wayne County, Ohio, docket. The Wooster PD told me they have no record of a police report attached to this statement.
Speeding and not paying bills
When Jeremy Hales wasn’t busy scaring ex-girlfriends, he was getting into other legal disputes. He was cited for speeding, something which followed him.
He also refused to pay his HVAC guy.
The billing dispute might have been a non-issue except Hales turned it into YouTube content.
That video has just over 422,000 views, more than enough to pay for the $500 dispute.
Hales learned that legal drama makes for great YouTube content.
The landlady from hell
On May 20, 2020, Marilyn Raby filed a lawsuit against Brian Vitcusky, Marty Yoder, and Jeremy Hales. Raby argued that the three were illegally squatting on her property in Wooster, Ohio.
Hales argued that he signed a lease with Vitcusky, who portrayed himself as Raby’s property manager.
This should have been resolved since Raby, according to her complaint, offered Hales a chance to enter into a lease with her.
He declined; a lawsuit followed, and from there, he created a YouTube storyline: World’s Worst Landlord.
One video got over 700,000 views. Hales had found his YouTube business model.
Documenting legal disputes made him money.
He built his audience up for a trial, telling them for months that he would take down his horrible landlord.
The court docket even has a lot of evidence that Raby knew he was renting the unit from her. This includes an affidavit from Martha Rizik.
These days, Rizik is Hales’ ex-girlfriend who appeared on his channel for years.
The video announcing their engagement was posted on December 9, 2021, and stated in the description, “Jeremy & George {Martha’s nickname} have been together for well over 3 1/2 years now.”
That description is a smoking gun because in her affidavit dated July 21, 2021, she said her relationship to Hales was, “Since approximately July 2019, I have been an independent contractor working with Jeremy Hales in his business at {redacted street address} Wooster, Ohio.”
That’s perjury. Hales attorney in this case was Stephen Eckinger. Eckinger and Hales did not respond to an email for comment.
Raby’s attorney, Doug Drushal, wouldn’t provide more details, stating only, “I would not be able to say anything beyond what you find in the public records.”
Mr. Drushal filed a document which portended things to come.
“It is evident that he is trying to use this Court to further his YouTube channel and not for any legitimate purpose,” Drushel wrote in a motion, arguing against allowing cameras in court.
Hales attorney argued that Hales had a first amendment right to document the proceedings.
Vitcusky and Yoder’s attorneys didn’t respond to emails for comment.
Hales built the case to a crescendo and a trial which was set for September 13, 2021. Hales was claiming victory throughout.
Only shortly before the trial was to begin, the parties reached a settlement. Jeremy agreed to move out, like Raby asked from the beginning.
A loss in court equaled a won online. He created a YouTube business model. It didn’t matter if he won in court, because he knew how to create long and drawn-out storylines from court proceedings.
It’s a pattern of malfeasance, using frivolous lawsuits for YouTube content.
The torture of Ms. Raby mirrors the torture Hales has inflicted on his Florida neighbors, John Cook and Michelle Preston.
He has demonized Cook and Preston, like he did Ms. Raby.
He’s turned legal disputes into thousands of hours of YouTube content.
He’s sued Cook and Preston.
In both cases, he doesn’t need to win in court because the content generates enough money.
It’s a pattern his YouTube supporters- That Umbrella Guy (TUG), Megan Fox, and Shizzy Whiz Nut- should explain.
These YouTubers have also spent hundreds of hours carrying water in his lawsuits against Cook and Preston, claiming they are legitimate.
I asked them about it. Here are parts of their responses.
From Tug.
Awwww, Michael.
I thought you’d fallen under a suit rack and nobody could hear your cries
Or maybe your partn-in-lova had you in the basement Silence of the Lambs style.
“It puts the lotion on the skin or it cant stream again.”
From Shizzy.
Michael, Michael, Michael,
You would make a piss poor gambler. When you are losing you shouldn't double down.
You're not witty, funny or even medium smart. Have you mistaken public embarrassment for a personality?
Paint Chips clearly misses having his favorite little bitch around, so why are you still wandering the internet begging Daddy TUG to notice you?
Is their approval really worth repeatedly humiliating yourself, or have you reached the point where negative attention is the only attention you can still get?
Do you keep coming back because you think you can win, or because getting publicly humiliated by a moron in a star spangled helmet is your kink?
Because either you know exactly how pathetic you look and keep doing it anyway, or you genuinely do not understand.
Which answer would you prefer everyone to believe? Do you prefer getting pegged By Paint Chip or teased by the internet for getting pegged by Paint Chip? You should update your dating profile, or I can for you! Your mom would be proud of what you have become.
Shizzy also sent me a video he claimed I needed to watch.
All these YouTubers started covering Hales after he sued Cook and Preston, or a few years after the events in Ohio.
None provided an explanation for the pattern. They wouldn’t say if they were aware of this prior storyline, nor did they provide any videos they’d done about the Ohio case.
Post-script
Check out the fundraiser to help me create more articles on the Hales case. Find articles one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty- nine, thirty, and thirty-one.
That is the shyster economy of internet lawfare. The courtroom becomes a set. The neighbor becomes a villain. The docket becomes a script. The audience becomes a funding source. Hales does not need to win every case if the spectacle pays better than the judgment. That is why the Ohio pattern matters in Florida. John Cook and Michelle Preston were not the first people allegedly turned into content adversaries. Marilyn Raby appears to have been an earlier chapter. The question for Hales’s defenders is simple: did they know this pattern existed, or did they choose not to look?