An Indianapolis man was arrested after failing to finish a home improvement project for a Whiteland resident.
John Edward Ryon, 44, 264 S. Rural St., was charged with two felony counts of home improvement fraud where the resident is older than 60 years old.
Police said Ryon owned and ran his own company called Ryon Pest Control. In October 2014, a Whiteland man hired Ryon to install a sump pump, a drain system and a well pit for an access area and create a crawl space under the house. Ryon said the work would cost $2,800, and the resident gave Ryon $1,000 to start the job.
A month after starting the job, Ryon told the resident that he needed the remaining $1,800 to purchase supplies and materials to keep working. Once the Whiteland man gave him $1,800, no materials were delivered to the house and no work was done, according to the probable cause affidavit.
In December 2014, Ryon asked the resident for another $1,300 to purchase additional supplies. The resident did not have $1,300, so he gave Ryon his 1994 Isuzu Trooper as a trade.
By March, no work had been done, and the resident could no longer reach Ryon, according to the affidavit. Police officers reached Ryon in June and gave him one week to either finish the job or give back the money to the Whiteland resident. The work was not done, and the resident did not get any money back.
Ryon was arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail, where he was released on $2,400 bond.
