After several years, arrests made in roofing company complaints

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga.

Gwinnett County's top prosecutor believes the state dropped the ball on their investigation into a fraudulent roofing company. Several suspects have now been charged with theft, among other charges. The charges come five years after homeowners began complaining about Pinnacle Roofing. District Attorney Danny Porter said time is running out for him to indict any of the suspects. "There are Gwinnett County victims that suffered extreme losses in this case. And I can't believe what was provided to me as an excuse for a criminal investigation, Porter told Channel 2s Kerry Kavanaugh. "Here I am, October the first, the statute of limitations runs out." Channel 2 Action News first reported about the complaints against Pinnacle Roofing in 2009. Dozens of homeowners told us at the time they paid Pinnacle thousands for roofing repairs they never got. They gave you this great story about what they were going to do and the cost of it. And of course we werent smart enough to know it was a scam, said Kathleen Williams. Williams showed Kavanaugh the contract she entered into with Pinnacle Roofing. She said the company came knocking on her Grayson door shortly after a hail storm blew through her neighborhood. The Governor's Office of Consumer Protection investigated complaints like Williams, and found victims in Gwinnett, Fayette, Henry, Clayton, Fulton, Cobb and Forsyth counties. The majority are in Gwinnett, so it's up to Porter to move the case along. "I have no explanation yet why it has taken them four years to round these people up and figure this out, Porter said. On Tuesday police arrested Scott Knoll, who they said was the company's CFO, along with William Sisson, the operations manager. Kavanaugh asked state investigators why this case spanned five years. A spokesperson with the Governors Office of Consumer Protection said in a statement that it was a complicated case. It essentially started in a bankruptcy court in Georgia with a claim that this was just another failed business venture. Disproving that claim took a long investigation that stretched from Florida to Colorado among other states and required the use of significant resources, human and financial. After we determined that there was substantial evidence of criminal behavior, we provided the case to the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office and they have agreed to prosecute. Our agency is looking forward to assisting the District Attorney's Office in this matter any way we can. Investigators said a third suspect was arrested in Montana. They are still searching for the fourth.

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After several years, arrests made in roofing company complaints