Police arrest father, son in driveway paving scam

Howard County police have arrested a father and son in connection with a driveway paving scam that happened in Laurel in February.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect and are asking for the publics help to find him.

Authorities said Paul Frank, 48, and his son, Spanky Frank, 19, were charged with four counts of selling home improvements without a license and acting as a contractor without a license.

They were arrested Wednesday in Prince Georges County without incident. An arrest warrant has been issued for a third suspect, Ace Frank, 22, on the same charges. It is unknown if he is related to the other two suspects.

While all three Franks have permanent residences out of state, police believe they have been staying at a home in the 8600 block of Contee Road in Laurel.

In recent years, police and consumer affairs representatives have investigated scams for driveway paving services in which criminals complete substandard work or dont finish the job, charge higher prices than agreed upon or steal from the victims homes.

In February, homeowners at four homes in Laurel -- three in the 9600 block of Baltimore Avenue, one in the 8600 block of Tower Drive -- were solicited by men later identified as Paul Frank, Spanky Frank and Ace Frank, for driveway re-sealing services, police said.

In each case, the men charged higher than the agreed upon prices, the work was completed poorly and no receipt was provided.

Investigators said the trio bought what appeared to be black paint at paint stores and then poured some gasoline into the black paint and used the mixture to reseal their customers' driveways.

Detectives also learned that none of the Franks possessed contractor licenses as required by the State of Maryland.

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Police arrest father, son in driveway paving scam