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Man allegedly bilks 5K from elderly Batavia resident for bogus roof job

By Billie Owens

Theodore R. Cooper, 27, of  59 Spencer Ave., Oswego, was arrested at his home on a warrant issued by Batavia City Court following an investigation by Batavia City Police into a fraud complaint.

It is alleged that on Dec. 30, 2009 and on Feb. 3, 2010 Cooper went to the home of an elderly Batavia resident and claimed he was a roofing contractor and claimed she had a problem with her roof.

On both occasions Cooper was alleged to have been at the residence for about 15 minutes and charged the woman a total of $5,500. Inspection of the roof reveals that no repairs were done by Cooper. The roof had been put on new in 2008 by a local established roofing company and appeared in good condition.

Cooper was charged with one count of grand larceny, 3rd. He was arraigned by Judge Robert Balbick and remanded to the Genesee County Jail. No bail was set. He will appear in City Court again on Monday. The investigation was conducted by Detective Charles Dudek.

marshall atkinson

Hmmmm---I'd say( If I were Judge Balbick), give the resident back ALL their $, plus 10% interest, perform 800 hours of community service(supervised), of course!, and I won't put you in the Hoosgow for 5 yrs!!! Respectfully submitted, M.A.

Jun 18, 2010, 10:34pm Permalink

Obviously this case is alleged at this point, but I am always appalled at how there are people that have no problem going after elderly victims and bilk them out of their already finite and often barely adequate income. It takes a special kind of sociopath to not care about the hardships you put someone through that can't go out and pick up an extra shift to make up the money they were scammed out of. I'd like to see stricter laws regarding preying on senior citizens.

Jun 19, 2010, 2:35am Permalink
Dave Olsen

I agree, John Perry, it is low to take advantage of a senior citizen, they get confused and give up enough info for someone like this to uses. I like the community service idea; supervised labor performing repairs and handyman type stuff for senior citizens for free. Honest sweaty labor is good for a young guy, might give him a better appreciation for the worth of the money he stole. Plus, work and pay back her money in addition to the community service, no welfare.

Jun 20, 2010, 10:11am Permalink

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