Recently a man named David Chenicek contacted myself and many others on Facebook looking for donations of gun parts to build an M4 for a wounded Veteran. In his messages, David claimed to be a former Marine “GySgt. David Chenicek.”
I keep spare parts around for exactly this kind of situation so I responded, offered him what I could, and then forwarded his request to Henderson Defense Industries who also gave him some parts. He went to Battlefield: Vegas to pick them up but while he was there, an employee recognized him as a man who had been caught switching a Magpul UBR stock into the box of a cheaper stock at New Frontier Armory. When confronted about this, David coughed up the cash for the price difference and the store let it go with that.
Once he was recognized for his previous crime, people started calling his credibility into question. Dave Chenicek continued his string of lies and even went so far as to make claims about having his “brothers brains splattered on him” and went on to tell about specific things he had done during his military career.
From all the heat this was causing, David was asked to return the parts. I met up with him yesterday when he returned some but definitely not all of them. We sat in a local coffee shop for about an hour and during that time he maintained his innocence and continued to build on his story line.
This morning he made a post on HDI’s Facebook page confessing that he was a fraud.
Regretfully, I have exactly ZERO Military background. However, I know many who do and I can only imagine how pissed off they must be when people pull this kind of crap. No matter what country you are from, those who serve in their respective armed forces deserve more respect than to have somebody like this come along and pretend to be something they are not.
This story has been reported to Stolen Valor as well as This Ain’t Hell and I’ve passed these screen caps and photos along to them. I would also ask that each of you share this link with your Military family and friends to bring more awareness to what this man has done. He used me, he used my contacts, and he used the reputation of millions of legitimate active Military and Veterans. This sort of abuse should not and can not go ignored. Since his confession specifically states: “You can do whatever you feel you need to me, just leave my family out of it” that’s exactly what I intend to do. I hope you will join me in outing this fraud and setting an example to discourage others from following in his footsteps.
UPDATE DECEMBER 5th, 2012:
Freedom of Information Act File Number: USMC-HQ 2013F110064:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012
This is crazy. I am prior Air Force, coincidentally enough, a predator maintainer. What D*Bag. I’d like to give him an AR buttstock, right in the kisser. He should be ashamed of himself. Even if I did get injured on any of my three trips, I wouldn’t want a pity rifle.
I have regretfully never been able to serve in the military either, but that being said i would never think or imagine to use the good name or reputation of any member of our military (former or current) as a part of a scam such as this!! this disgusts me! i will admit i want my first AR/ M4 very badly and as of yet can not afford to make t happen. I have not asked for free parts nor begged for pity on this matter it is mine to bare. I enter various contests online in the hopes of winning, but am never jealous or disappointed when i don’t win. i know that I feed my kids and pay my bills through my hard work every day and that if it is meant to be i will find an honest way to buy or build one some day. The frauds put forth by this individual are deplorable and he deserves to be taken out behind the woodshed as far as i am concerned… his family though should not be held responsible for his actions and should not be threatened. I give great thanks to all members of our military and apologize that yet another P.O.S. has tried to get something for nothing of of the blood sweat and tears you have given for our country and our freedoms! Something like this should never happen!!! thank you 702shooter for outing this scumbag!!! Sincerely yours , Jay Pearson!
That’s lower than the belly of a dung beetle
That is some shameful stuff… I normally prefer not to get the law involved, but this kind of fraud is pretty low…
Good thing he wasn’t a Marine. We don’t need people like this in the military.
Good job to everyone who outed this low life. To pull on the heart strings of good people who are happy to help a wounded vet. What a scum bag.
As a Veteran, Son of a Veteran, Spouse of a Veteran, and Father of a Veteran, I can’t decide if I feel angry, disgusted, pity, or all of the above for this person. I am just glad that none of us have shared a foxhole, and MRE or a hummer with him.
God will sort it out in the end.
this is BULL SHIT ppl like him deserve to be thrown in a jail
i am a true US MARINE with a purple heart and proof of it all and if any of my friends and or family ever did a stunt like this i would beat the shit out of them and drag them to the cops…..
Wow, what a piece of dog turd. I can’t believe how low people will stoop.
Semper Fi to my brothers and thank you to every single one of you who support both Active Duty and Veterans; regardless of their branch of service.
People are always trying to steal the title, “Marine,” and for the matter “Veteran” or “Disabled Veteran.”
I’m proud to claim the Title… yeah you have to earn it…
I worked with one cat who claimed the Title and had enough balls to eat some Marine Corps birthday cake… very bad juju… that’s a dark hole you don’t ever want to fall into… he always made himself scarce whenever real Marines were around…
All I can say to fraudster David Chenicek is… Marines do not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate those among us who do… you’ve earned your title of “Fraudster” and while I appreciate that you want everyone to leave your family out of this… you drug them into it… Personally, I find it dishonorable to drag family into a situation that one Delta Bravo created… but ask, as a sign of mercy and a higher moral standard, for everyone to leave them out of it… with the caveat that if they jump in the fight then it’s their fault if they get owned.
Can you believe that Mother Green actually stopped “drumming” Marines out of the Corps because it was considered “hazing?”
MAN!! I forgot my sisters too… I’ll pay for that….
Perhaps, its time to find a way to keep things more “in the family” as it were. All the forums the we all frequent are full of real veterans and the people that know them for real personally.
The “family” that knows them should come together and put packages together for them. People can donate what they have to give time, money, services..etc. A few examples would be building them a special rifle or putting together a CCW package for them sponsored by the “family”.
That’s a great idea. Getting people organized for such a thing is no easy task though. Definitely something I will brainstorm a bit on.
I’ve seen guys like this before and it breaks my heart every time. I’m preparing to retire after a little over 22 years of service, I’ve lost a lot of good friends both in combat and in training accidents. I’ve had to tell small children “I’m sorry but your mommy isn’t going to be coming back” and the thought of someone using other peoples tragedies for personal gain sickens me. I’m no gun smith but I would be happy to donate time and or money to help put together a rifle. If interested in doing something like this I can easily contact some of the folks at Nellis AFB and find a worthy individual. Just let me know.
Chris
Frankly, I am shocked that this turd admitted to his scam.
mbogo
What The F*CK! Never served myself, bad ankles, that is about as LOW as an individual can get. I Revere those who served & Honor ALL those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. This DB should be shunned, he’s probably a lib a’la Johnny boy Kerry.
It sad to think of someone going so low to say that they were a vet. It disgraces themselves to lower than rapists in my mind, and all for some AR parts. I can’t afford an AR, but you don’t see me lying to stealing from good people to get things. It’s a sad part of society that does that.
I do not think they are lower than rapists but they are equal to them because they rape and pillage the hearts and minds of and resources of honorable people.
Spindler has a good idea. Is there a way for 702 to add a “donate” button or “Give through Paypal” feature to the website?
My cousin is a retired marine and I chose not to show him this to spare him some grief since many of his fellow marines that he knew personally died or were injured
I remember a story where a guy went to some gun show somewhere and while wearing a uniform that looked like it was ironed with a rock, he claimed he was a retired Marine Officer/Navy SEAL. This dude had the wrong pants, wrong belt, ribbons were jacked up, he even mixed commands and bases up. He was called out real quick by an actual Marine and almost got his ass handed to him. As a Navy vet I am proud that I served a good 8 years but people like this piss me off to no end.
To the comment I just wrote. To set my story straight I found the article. If you want to read it look up Marine poser shows up at Airsoft expo.
I’m not shocked at all by peoples fake stories. Everyone wants to be a big shot no matter the cost. As for saying he’s a gunny sgt, well that’s just a name and title anyone can give to anyone. I’ve seen tons of folks shooting guns wearing ranks they never achieved or even served. Do I get upset? Nope, it’s just a simple wanting to be what they couldn’t achieve. No matter what, there’s going to be tools everywhere. It’s just up to you to look at them and laugh or get pissed off because they are being fake. I clap for haters.
I get where you’re coming from, but I don’t agree in this case. These fakers aren’t just being fake, they’re basically stealing from people and preying on the good intentions of others. Fakers will be fakers, and we’ll all exhaust ourselves running after them, but in this case the guy is basically a criminal. I’m pretty sure if you spent a good amount of your own money sending off merchandise to someone you thought was in need, and then found out they were lying, you’d be pretty upset yourself.
And have a little more respect for the term Gunnery Sgt, it’s not just a name and title, men have busted their asses to earn it. ;)
I ran across this story on Stolen Valor. This is a fraudster who has actually hit me the hardest. It’s one thing to wear fake medals and give fake interviews, but it’s another to prey on the good intentions of people just trying to help out a wounded warrior. As someone who thought they were doing something awesome, it had to be a sick feeling to find out he was lying. Not only that but considering you guys run a business, it’s amazing to think you gladly sent out parts knowing it might do nothing for you.
So “Bravo!” and a thank you anyway for providing what you could when you thought a wounded service member needed your help. It is support like yours that mean the world to vets and you definitely went above and beyond the initial call by also reaching out to contacts that you had for even more help.
You are awesome! I will keep you guys in mind as I start working on building my own gun collection and can’t wait to further explore your site. Thanks again! -Kristen