The owners of Limestone Furniture Mart filed a document Wednesday in Madison County Circuit Court announcing they have filed for bankruptcy.
Scott Connell, who remains in Limestone County Jail after being arrested on various theft charges stemming from customer complaints they did not receive furniture they ordered, is listed on the “Suggestion of Bankruptcy” document along with his wife Brandi. The document was filed in reference to a temporary restraining order against the couple by Huntsville attorney JoLayne Hall, who also was a customer who never received furniture.
A hearing was set Friday morning to determine whether the furniture remaining in the store could be liquidated, as the owners hoped, or held as proceeds of a crime. However, a court official said Robert E. Long, the attorney for the Connells, asked that the hearing be postponed. No new date has been set.
The Suggestion of Bankruptcy document requests protection “against a debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of this case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of this case…”
A judge will rule whether the Connells can be protected in this case.
More than 107 people have filed complaints against the store, which is located on U.S. 72 next to Limestone Flea Market.
Connell, 36, of 13424 Shelly Drive in Madison, was arrested June 29 and charged with five counts of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree theft after customers filed criminal complaints against him.
Customers said Connell required cash payments — or large deposits — in advance, but their furniture was never delivered.
Following Connell’s arrest, Brandi attempted to have a liquidation sale June 30 and had an employee hand out fliers requesting customers’ assistance so they could recoup their money.
However, irate customers were concerned they would never receive refunds or the furniture they ordered, so they protested the sale. Many staked their claims on furniture by entering the store and sitting on it.
Brandi closed the store and, within hours, Hall filed a temporary restraining order in Madison County, preventing the Connells from selling the furniture.
The store has remained closed since that day.
Some victims of the store’s actions included a couple who ordered furniture to replace what they lost when their home was destroyed by the April 27 tornadoes and a grandmother who bought a bedroom suit for her granddaughter whose mother had died last year.
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