The owner of a local construction company was arrested by South Charleston police on Thursday after he allegedly used his company to receive payments and then disappear without notice.
Alex Kimble, 27, of Charleston, the owner of Above it All Construction, accepted three payments worth a total of nearly $40,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. None of the customers ever heard from Kimble again.
The first customer hoped to block the sides of her front porch and have composite decking installed, the complaint states. She wrote Kimble a check for about $3,700 in September 2016 to cover the materials and a deposit.
Another customer paid Kimble $9,550 in April 2016 for her own composite deck, according to the complaint.
Kimble's largest payment came from a customer in Jackson County, who paid about $26,360 for a job that never happened.
A detective tried to contact Kimble after several customers reported him to the West Virginia Office of the Attorney General.
The detective called the phone number listed on a licensing board and a customer contract, along with the numbers found on Kimble's Facebook page and business card. He discovered at least one of the numbers was disconnected, according to the complaint.
Police arrested Kimble on two counts of obtaining money, property and services by false pretenses. He remained at South Central Regional Jail on Friday afternoon, on a $75,000 bail from both Kanawha and Jackson counties.
Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.