Police: Richland man paid no-show home improvement contractor up front
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A contractor from Butler County faces felony charges after a Richland man told police that he paid more than $6,000 up front for fence work but couldn’t get a refund after being told he would have to wait at least four months for the project to start.
Austin Jay Reges, 29, of the 100 block of Cayman Drive in Penn Township was charged by Northern Regional Police with felony counts of theft by deception and home improvement fraud. A preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan is scheduled for Jan. 25.
A detective wrote in the criminal complaint charging Reges that a man reported that he hired Reges, owner of Triple B Landscaping and Construction, to remove a concrete slab and build a deck and fence on his property along Vineyard Drive.
The man said he paid Reges $6,550 in advance and the work was scheduled to be done from Nov. 11 to 19, but he never showed up to start the project, the complaint said.
The man told police that he asked Reges for a refund after being informed that the work would have to be pushed back until spring, the complaint said.
The two men scheduled a time and place to meet so the refund could be made, but Reges never showed up, the complaint said.
Police said they contacted Reges and he admitted that he took the payment up front from the man but spent it “catching up on other projects” he needed to complete before doing the fence and deck work.
Reges told investigators that he would refund the money by Jan. 1, but the money was never repaid, the complaint said.
The Facebook page Reges uses to advertise his business has a notice posted announcing that it is permanently closed.
The business is not listed on the state Attorney General’s contractor registration system.
In July 2019, Reges pleaded guilty in Butler County to a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property filed by state police and was sentenced to three years of probation, according to court records.