Home work was a scam, police say

Police believe others may have fallen victim to the scam.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Township police say a man responsible for bilking at least one resident out of thousands of dollars is behind bars.
Charles Zimmerman, 33, of Youngstown Hubbard Road, Hubbard, was in Mahoning County Jail Friday on a felony theft charge filed by township police. He was initially arrested in Trumbull County Thursday for a parole violation.
According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Web site, Zimmerman was released on parole from the Lorain Correctional Institution in March of this year. He had been sentenced to five years in prison for theft and burglary in 1998, according to the site.
Kim Kotheimer, Boardman police, said an 88-year-old Arden Boulevard woman needed to have some basic home repair done.
Hired him
Kotheimer said the woman hired Zimmerman, doing business as Dave's Handyman Service, to paint and put a roof on a shed in the rear of the home, replace window wells and paint the entire house.
Kotheimer said the window wells were never touched, the work on the shed was "shoddy" at best and the only portion of the house painted was the outside four feet in both directions from the front door. He said Zimmerman only painted the area most noticed by the elderly woman.
In exchange for the work, Kotheimer said, Zimmerman has been cashing checks from the woman since spring of last year. Police have been able to verify 12 checks, but believe there may be more. The total of all the checks is somewhere in the area of $7,000.
The payments stopped, Kotheimer said, when neighbors who take the woman to do banking and handle other business noticed her dwindling bank account. He said the woman's bank also became suspicious when she attempted to transfer an annuity into her checking account.
Kotheimer said police believe there may be other victims of Zimmerman in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. He said anyone who has had dealings with Zimmerman should call their local police department.
jgoodwin@vindy.com