WPD: Man Charged in 2020 Renovation Scam

WARWICK, RI — Warwick Police took custody of a Woonsocket man wanted for a 2020 home renovation scam  from Woonsocket Police on Sept. 13 at 11:20 a.m.

According to Warwick Police records, Robert Snead, 29, of 333 Clinton St., RM 119, Woonsocket, posed as a contractor with R&H Home Improvement, accepting checks from a Warwick woman totaling $1,841 for work that he never performed.

Warwick Police learned of the scam Nov. 22, 2020, when the owner of R&H Home Improvement, Ronald Rasmussen, reported that Snead, a former employee who had been fired, was fraudulently representing himself as an employee.

Officer Evan Johnson spoke with a Warwick woman who had hired Snead to work on her shed. She said she had checked him on the Nextdoor website and found favorable reviews, according to Johnson’s report. She also checked the company on the Better Business Bureau website and found it had no complaints.

Between Sept. 9 and Sept. 17 of 2020, the woman wrote three checks to Snead totaling $1,841. Snead told her it would take about 8 weeks for materials for the job to arrive, according to the report. On Oct. 25, 2020, the woman sent Snead a text asking him to start the work, but he only made excuses about COVID-19, weather, truck trouble and interfering work.

Finally, she said, she contacted Rasmussen directly, and learned he was not working for R&H Home Improvement.

Warwick Police obtained an arrest warrant for Snead for Obtaining Property by False Pretenses or Personation, which Woonsocket Police held him on Sept. 13, contacting Warwick Police. Warwick Police officers transported Snead to Warwick Police Headquarters, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, Warwick, where he was processed on the charge.