‘Why are you lying?’: Dallas man says he invested $10,000 in office space. Then he got accused of assaulting the landlord

A Dallas man filmed himself inside an empty office space while an older man stood nearby on a phone call to police. Josh Jones, who posts on TikTok as @joshjonesyt, shared the video with the caption “Scammed me for 10K.” On-screen text in the clip read “DONT RENT OFFICES IN DALLAS” next to a crying emoji.

Jones said in the video that he had invested $10,000 in the office space. He pointed the camera at the empty room with glass walls and light wood floors, then turned it toward the older man, whom he later called Mr. Ivy. The older man, described as bald and wearing a blue t-shirt and black shorts, stood near a glass door while speaking into his phone.

Jones claimed the man was lying to police about being pushed. The video has been viewed more than 1.4 million times and has drawn more than 4,300 comments.

Josh Jones records the landlord on a call to police

Jones told viewers early in the clip, “If you are in Dallas, do not get an office from these guys, okay?” He then said, “I came in, invested $10,000, as y’all can see.” As the camera moved, he pointed at the older man and stated, “Look at him, he’s lying to the police right now, saying how I’m pushing him.”

The man on the phone could be heard telling the person on the other end, “He’s a strong man, I cannot handle it.” He continued, “He’s, he’s telling the police I’m pushing him.” Jones held his hand up toward the camera and repeated that the man was telling police he had been pushed.

Jones asked aloud, “Were you assaulted?” He then clarified for viewers that the person on the phone had asked that question. The older man replied into the phone, “He pushed me. Yeah, he, yes, he pushed me hard.”

Jones reacted by saying, “Oh my God, Mr. Ivy, why are you lying?” He covered his face and laughed while adding, “He said I’m a big man. Oh my God.” The clip ended with Jones still filming the empty office and the man on the phone.

The video showed no other people in the space and no physical contact between the two men during the recording. Jones continued to film while the older man gestured with his free hand and asked for police to come handle the situation. 

Viewers left comments under the post reacting to the exchange. One commenter wrote, “He’s trying to get you killed.” Another stated, “Liars like this scare me.” A third commenter suggested the situation might involve a plan to have someone improve the property before canceling. They wrote, “he planned for you to fix his property up then cancel on you…it’s a scam.”

Some commenters questioned what happened before the recording started. One wrote, “It’s possible that you push him before you started to record.” Another asked, “what happened before you started recording.”

A further commenter urged Jones to take legal steps. They wrote, “File a civil suit for lying to the police, further, endangering your life. Don’t let this slide. You have the evidence. USE it. Get every bit of your.” Calls to police can carry consequences for the caller too, as one man learned when he was fired after calling police.