Man accused of scamming Hollywood renters arrested

He's accused of ripping off victim after victim. Maybe you were one of them?

Police say those victims are out thousands of dollars after the man conned them out of deposits for an apartment.

It sounds too good to be true, a spacious Hollywood apartment with a view....for only $800 dollars a month.

Give the person subleasing it first and last and you're in.

Only problem is, according to police, the apartment never became available, instead a series of excuses, deaths in the family, last minute plan change, and so forth.

Police have arrested a man named Johnny Ray Gasca at least three times, and want to arrest him again, as more victims keep coming forward to Hollywood Division detectives. "Theft by trick'' is the crime according to Detective Jeff Childs, who says ''this is a bad person, we don't need him doing what he's doing in Hollywood.'' Or anywhere else.

The walls of the apartment building on Tamarind Ave. now have a xeroxed warning posted on them, reminding tenants or prospective tenants not to give money to anyone but property management.

Makes sense, but as we all know there are no shortage of people coming to Hollywood chasing their dreams and an affordable apartment is a great attraction, so they no doubt are easy prey for someone police describe as a very smooth operator who's not afraid of getting caught.