Contractor charged after Kiski Township woman accuses him of cashing $16K check, failing to finish work

Kiski Township police filed felony charges against a contractor after a property owner accused him of cashing a $16,000 check for work in August 2020 and not completing the project.

David Lynn Patton, 67, of Limestone Township, Clarion County, was charged with felony counts of theft by deception and failing to perform work for which he was paid.

Charges were filed against Patton on Feb. 22, but a date for a preliminary hearing before District Judge James Andring has not yet been scheduled, court records show.

Kiski Township police also filed two misdemeanor charges of writing bad checks against Patton on Dec. 29, according to the court docket. A preliminary hearing on those charges is scheduled March 16 before Andring.

According to Patton’s arrest papers, the owner of the property filed a police report Jan. 13 in which she told authorities she bought a home in the 900 block of Old State Road and hired Patton to replace the roof and remodel the building.

She said Patton gave her an estimate of $43,000 for the work, and she paid him a $16,000 advance with a PNC Bank cashier’s check, the complaint said.

Patton began working on the roof on Aug. 21, 2020, but never completed it or any of the other work for which he was hired, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said the woman provided them with copies of multiple text messages she exchanged with Patton in which they discussed the scope of the work he was to perform, the complaint said.

She told them, after he walked off the job, he did not respond to multiple telephone messages.

Court records show Patton pleaded guilty in October 2012 to 14 felony counts and 82 misdemeanor counts of theft by unlawful taking filed by state police in Clarion. He was sentenced to five years’ probation.