New Alexandria tree cutter accused of theft, fraud in work scam

A New Alexandria tree trimmer, who appeared for a hearing Friday for allegedly scamming an elderly Hempfield couple out of $1,800, left in handcuffs after Westmoreland County detectives charged him in connection with five other theft cases involving home-improvement fraud.

Eugene C. Askey, 39, was arraigned before Jeannette District Judge Joseph DeMarchis on multiple charges of theft by deception, deceptive business practices and violations of the home-improvement consumer protection act.

He was jailed when he failed to post a $25,000 cash bond on the five new cases filed by Detective Randy Gardner.

It's a shame, but all of these victims are elderly. Once we began investigating this, we continued hearing from more people who were victims, said Detective Thomas Horan, who filed the original complaint.

Askey appeared for a scheduled hearing on the original case before Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour. Askey, who is accused of taking $1,800 in June for tree removal work that never was never done on a couple's property on Route 136, waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Afterward, Gardner arrested Askey on nearly identical complaints involving an alleged scam in Penn Township, two in Latrobe, one in Unity Township and one in Hempfield.

Detectives said Askey collected about $14,000 between June and October for promised work that was never completed.

We think there may be more victims out there who we haven't heard from, Horan said.

In some cases, Askey would accept deposits for tree removal, but they were never removed. In other complaints, Gardner alleges that the victims would contract for stump removal, but Askey would only cover up the stumps with debris he left behind from the tree trimming.

In another case, Askey removed two trees from a residence and returned a few days later to tell the consumer that 11 other trees needed to be removed because they were infested with ants, Gardner reported in an affidavit of probable cause.

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New Alexandria tree cutter accused of theft, fraud in work scam