Woman Loses Savings In Home Addition Project

DECATUR TOWNSHIP, CLEARFIELD COUNTY - A Philipsburg contractor is facing theft and fraud charges after police say he took a woman's money but never completed the job.

Now the homeowner is left in a financial bind.

Police say a Clearfield County woman hired a contractor to make some additions onto her home, but he never finished the job.

"There's no plumbing in. There's no wiring done," says homeowner Theo Waksmunski.

Waksmunski says the two bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen near Osceola Mills were supposed to be finished last spring, but all she has now is the framework.

"He asked for money in advance with the thought that he was going to buy all the supplies at one time and then store them next door," says Waksmunski.

She was trying to consolidate and sell one family property, but $70,000 later and the rooms aren't fit for sleeping or cooking, but she can climb up to her deck on a ladder left behind.

"He was supposed to be done in May and at the end of May, the beginning of June, he let us know that he wasn't going to do any more work. He was quitting business," says Waksmunski.

Police say Brian Barton, 45, didn't fulfill his end of the deal, and that's a crime.

"It took most of our savings," says Waksmunski.

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Woman Loses Savings In Home Addition Project