A home improvement contractor who is awaiting trial on charges that he never showed up to do the work after cashing a $15,000 check from a church in West Deer has been accused of doing the same thing to a Richland homeowner who works at the same church.
Northern Regional Police on May 3 charged Ronald Lee Pirring, 61, of Fairly Road in Ross with felony counts of theft by deception, fraudulent business practices and home improvement fraud.
During a May 18 preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan, Pirring was ordered to stand trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on the latest set of charges, according to court records.
West Deer police charged Pirring with the same three felony counts on Feb. 3 but were unable to take him into custody and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was arrested by Ross Township police in late February and charged with a felony count of flight to avoid apprehension. He was released from the Allegheny County Jail after posting 10% of a $5,000 cash bond, court records show.
Pirring faces a June 23 preliminary hearing on the felony flight charge.
Court records show that Pirring failed to appear for his March 16 preliminary hearing on the charges filed by West Deer police and was ordered by the judge to stand trial in Common Pleas Court.
After his arrest by Northern Regional Police, Pirring was released from the Allegheny County Jail after a $2,000 surety bond was posted by a Pittsburgh bail agency.
West Deer police charged Pirring after the pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic parish in West Deer reported he hired Pirring to build a two-car garage on the church’s property.
Pirring was paid an advance of $15,250, which was about half of the total estimate for the project, according to a criminal complaint.
The priest said Pirring never showed up to do the work and did not return multiple telephone messages seeking an explanation, the complaint said.
Northern Regional Police said an employee of the church reported that on Dec. 3 he paid Pirring $4,000 up front for a $12,000 siding job on his Richland home, according to a criminal complaint.
The man said Pirring deposited his check but never did the work and would not return telephone calls or text messages.
