Slidell police arrested a local contractor Monday on two counts of theft over $500 after an investigation of complaints by homeowners who had hired the man to fix their Katrina-damaged homes.

James J. Moore, 47, 175 Meadowland Drive, was arrested after he locked himself inside a house he was restoring, Slidell police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. Moore was also wanted on an outstanding contempt of court charge after he failed to show up for trial resulting from a Dec. 18, 2007 arrest on three outstanding warrants for theft over $500.

The two current theft charges stem from complaints of a homeowner on Arrowhead Drive who alleges Moore took two payments totaling $13,000 to remove a damaged house from the lot but did not do the job he was contracted to do.

Moore

Moore was arrested in 2007 after a homeowner on Palm Springs Drive, also in the Yester Oaks subdivision, allegedly paid Moore $1,000 to fix the storm-damaged roof. Moore then purchased $1,800 worth of material from Water Tight Roofing for the job. However, when the owner of Water Tight Roofing deposited Moore’s check, Moore has stopped payment on it.

Moore told the owner he was having problems getting money from the homeowner, but when the Water Tight Roofing owner called the homeowner, he was told Moore had been paid in full. Water Tight Roofing filed an affidavit against Moore for theft over $500. The Palm Springs Drive homeowner filed a report with Slidell police alleging Moore had only completed $6,000 worth of repair work on a job estimated to cost $15,000. The homeowner had paid Moore $15,000 up front for the job. Slidell police arrested Moore on Dec. 18, 2007, on the charges of theft over $500. He was released on a $2,500 bond. Foltz said the bond was low because theft is a non-violent crime.

Slidell police informed Moore’s attorney, wife and daughter of the outstanding warrants and advised that Moore should turn himself in. Foltz said Moore tried to keep out of sight in the Slidell area and did not turn himself in. He didn’t show up for the trial on his first three charges and was charged with contempt of court. Then on Monday, one of Moore’s victims spotted the contractor working on a house in Slidell. The victim notified the police, but when they arrived at the house Moore ran inside, locked the door and refused to come out. Finally, after persuasion from the police, Moore came out of the house and was arrested without incident.

Foltz said Moore is in the St. Tammany Parish Jail under a $20,331 bond; $15,000 is for the two current theft charges and $5,000 is for the contempt of court charge.

Slidell Chief of Police Freddy Drennan said contractor fraud is still a problem in the city since Hurricane Katrina. He said his department will aggressively pursue the investigation of contractor fraud complaints, but even if an arrest is made, the damage has been done.

“Unfortunately, most of the time, we can not get their money back since the so-called contractor has already spent it,” Drennan said.

If convicted, Moore faces 10 years in jail and a $3,000 fine for each count of theft.