Contractor purposely damaged homes to get thousands in insurance payouts, MN cops say
A contractor knocked on doors asking homeowners if he could inspect their property for damage, then purposely caused damage in an attempt to collect thousands of dollars in insurance payouts, Minnesota cops said.
The contractor is accused of damaging six homes in three counties during the summer of 2022, causing over $86,000 in damage at one of the houses, according to police. He was charged with one count of damage to property and five counts of insurance fraud. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 50 years in prison.
Attorney information for the 36-year-old contractor was not listed.
Following a hail storm in May 2022, the contractor from Minneapolis is seen on security footage using the corner of his phone to dent the garage door of a Hennepin county home, according to court documents filed Aug. 28. The man then returned to the homeowners and said the damage was caused by hail, Eden Prairie police said.
The homeowners told the man’s company about the alleged damage after seeing the video, and the company gave them a check for $5,500 to cover the cost, according to a probable cause statement.
At a neighboring home, the contractor showed a homeowner damage to shingles, window trim, an air conditioner and gutters after performing an inspection, the probable cause statement said.
The man convinced the homeowner to sign a contract with his company and file an insurance claim, officials said.
The next day, according to court documents, the person canceled the contract because they had a “funny feeling.” They did not cancel the insurance claim.
When the insurance adjuster arrived, they noted that the damage was not from hail, investigators said. The damage amounted to over $9,000, and authorities said it appeared to have been caused by a “handheld object,” according to court documents.
At four of the homes, according to court documents, dents did not go higher than approximately 90 inches. One of the homeowners told investigators the man was approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall.
The contractor told police that he did not create the damage, according to court documents.
“It’s a technique that – their home had damage already from the storm,” the man told police.
One of the homes he’s accused of purposely damaging is a rental property he stayed at in Scott County during the same summer, according to court documents.
A person that worked with the man told investigators “that he observed Defendant hitting the siding of that house with a bag of ice after saying he was going to cause some ‘hail damage,’ according to the probable cause statement.
The contractor is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 12.
Eden Prairie is about a 20-mile drive southwest from Minneapolis.
This story was originally published August 29, 2024 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Contractor purposely damaged homes to get thousands in insurance payouts, MN cops say."
