Two arrest warrants were issued for a man wanted for residential contractor fraud in St. Landry Parish.
On December 28, 2021, officers with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's arrested Miguel Mendoza for his alleged crimes involving two victims who needed home improvement work last year.
According to Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz, "On January 19, 2020, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office was notified of a contract / invoice between Miguel Mendoza and the first victim, which stated that the victim was requesting sheet-rock improvements to his home, and Mendoza was hired as the contractor. The total improvement cost was $7,589.00."
On February 27, 2020, police say the victim made an additional contractual agreement with the suspect to paint the interior of his residence, which would increase the cost of the project.
Upon further investigation, police determined that the victim provided a deposit amount of $1,100.00 to the contractor. The victim provided several checks to cover the supplies and the final payment for the sheet-rock improvement was made on March 4, 2020.
The last day Mendoza made any improvements to the home was September 11, 2020, the victim told police. Both the sheet-rock and painting were incomplete, they say. The victim made many attempts to contact Mendoza, but was unsuccessful.
In the second and unrelated case, another victim hired Mendoza on July 15, 2020 to build two offices in his garage. The total cost of the improvement was $3,600.00, which included the cost of materials.
Upon further investigation, it was determined that the victim provided a deposit of $1,500.00 on the day of the agreement however; a written contract was not signed by either party.
The victim informed police that Mendoza began the project on July 16, 2020 but could not make further improvements to the project until concrete was poured.
They say the suspect left the building materials at the victim's residence, and the victim provided two additional payments on July 22nd and July 24, 2020, totaling $2,600.00. On August 15, 2020, Mendoza told the victim that he refused to complete the offices.
Two arrest warrants were then issued for Mendoza for residential contractor fraud. On December 28, 2021, Mendoza was transported to the St. Landry Parish Jail and was given a bond of $5,000.
Police say, "All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."
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