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BOARDMAN -- A local contractor is in hot water for a familiar offense.
A Boardman woman told police she paid a contractor $5,000 toward a $20,000 home-improvement project more than a year ago, but the work remains unfinished and the contractor has stopped responding to her.
The complaint comes as police in several Mahoning Valley communities are investigating separate allegations involving Boardman contractor John P. Bartos III, who was arrested Friday on four outstanding warrants.
Bartos has not been identified as the contractor in Tuesday's Boardman complaint and the names of the contractor and company in the case are redacted in the Boardman police report. However, the complaint itself matches the same pattern of dishonest and criminal behavior that has led to multiple convictions and financial judgments against Bartos.
The report states that the woman told police on Tuesday that she signed the $20,000 contract on Aug. 25, 2025, for work at her home. She said the contractor came to the house several times through November and completed most of the items specified in the contract, but the backyard and back porch work was never completed.
She said she gave the contractor $5,000 for supplies to begin that portion of the project, which included staining the front and back porch floors, installing ceiling panels and trim, installing a post for a hose, and removing the old back steps and building larger ones.
The woman said the contractor last contacted her Nov. 19 and has not answered her calls or text messages since. The report also states that the woman said a laborer who worked on the project told her the contractor would text him excuses about why he was not there or why the work was taking so long.
The woman said she spent the past year seeking help from other contractors and contacted other people who said they had worked for the contractor but had not been paid. One couple told her they had a contract to perform work inside the woman's home but had been left without completing it. The report states the contractor owed that couple $25,000.
The report states Boardman police also found that the same contractor was the suspect in a 2023 Poland Township theft report involving another woman who allegedly paid about $15,000 for work that was not completed.
The woman said she contacted the Ohio Attorney General's Office about the matter and received a case number. She told police she wants to pursue charges and wants to ensure the contractor does not do the same thing to others.
Bartos III, 43, formerly operated Gridiron Windows and Doors and, more recently, Pro Windows and Patio Doors. He was convicted in 2024 of theft-related offenses in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties for taking money from customers for home-improvement work he did not complete. In Mahoning County alone, he pleaded guilty to 18 felony counts involving 25 customers and repaid $103,000 before receiving four years of probation. He also received five years of probation in Trumbull County and three years of probation, including 90 days in jail, in Columbiana County.
Bartos was arrested again Friday on four outstanding warrants, including warrants connected to new theft allegations in Beaver and Weathersfield townships and alleged probation violations in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. Bartos also was arrested in May on a Pennsylvania theft-by-deception warrant involving another contracting job; he later pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge there and is awaiting sentencing.