Farrell roofing company accused of charging customers for incomplete work
Two people are charged after police say a Farrell-based roofing company charged customers for work that was never done.
According to a criminal complaint, a man told police he had contacted a company named Penn West Roofing and Repair to perform renovations on his house and paid the company $550 for the work on February 19.
However, police say that work was never completed.
According to the complaint, the man showed police an invoice for the repairs with two names and phone numbers on the receipt that traced back to 33-year-old Ashley Swartz and 40-year-old Antonio Simpson.
The man told police Simpson arrived at the home about two weeks prior to the report to begin the work. However, police say the man's daughter took a photo of Simpson on a ladder pretending to work and that no repairs were actually done.
Police say when the man confronted Simpson asking why repairs weren't done, he said something along the lines of "I will kick you and your niece's a***s."
According to the complaint, police went to Swartz's house to speak to her. While they did not find her, police say they did find a truck with decals for Penn West Roofing and Repair on it.
When police went to the company's address, no one was there either. However, police say they found business cards for the company with Swartz being listed as the owner.
Police say no position was listed for Simpson, but his phone number was also listed on the card.
Police say Simpson has a history of home improvement charges being filed against him noting a 2018 case out of Mercer County where he pled guilty to a charge of deceptive business practices.
According to court records, Swartz and Simpson are both charged with a felony count of receives advance payment for services and fails to perform and another felony count of deceptive business practices.
Police say these charges are felonies because the victim was over the age of 60.
Additionally, Simpson is facing an additional misdemeanor charge of making terroristic threats due to his alleged threat.
Penn West Roofing and Repair is not affiliated with the similarly-named company Penn West Tree Service.
"I don't want our name being tarnished by another company and their actions," Josh Shuttleworth, owner of Penn West Tree Service said.
