Fraud detectives have had an arrest warrant since Dec. 12 for Kyle Dwiggins, who is on probation for a previous conviction, according to court records. Police said Tuesday they're still looking for the 26-year-old, who owns Sooner Repairs.
Dwiggins allegedly advertised his repair and remodeling services with fliers hung on doors, mostly in East Anchorage, police said. When Dwiggins was hired, he asked for thousands of dollars in deposits or materials costs, and either failed to show up for work or started the projects and did not finish them, police said.
In a separate alleged scam, Dwiggins advertised his West Anchorage apartment on Craigslist and took deposits from unsuspecting renters, who later learned that Dwiggins did not own the apartment.
According to the charges, Dwiggins' scams started in late May and ended just before he disappeared in December. In that time, police say he swindled a total of about $130,000 from at least 21 people.
One of the alleged victims, a 75-year-old woman, hired Dwiggins to do some repairs in her mobile home, a rental, according to the charging document. The woman paid $1,450 up front for a water heater installation and other work, with another $1,400 to be paid when the work was complete. The charges say Dwiggins removed a counter top and some cabinets and cut off the water supply line but didn't install a shutoff valve.
"He stated to her that the water was supposed to run onto the ground until the hot water boiler was installed," the charges say. "The water was still running two weeks after he started work and that was all of the work that he accomplished."
The woman later hired a plumbing company to fix what Dwiggins had done, the charges say. She paid another $6,477 for the repairs and lost out on $8,130 in rent.
In another case listed in the charging document, a man hired Dwiggins to do insulation and siding work on his home and wrote Dwiggins a check for $11,335 to buy materials.
"The check was cashed the same day it was given to Dwiggins ... Dwiggins never worked on the project and no supplies were ever ordered from the supplier," the charges say.
Dwiggins ultimately stole money from at least 13 others in similar schemes, police said. In each case, the victims paid Dwiggins thousands of dollars and were unable to reach Dwiggins after he left their projects unfinished.
In November, Dwiggins' scheme took a different turn, police said.
A woman looking for an apartment saw Dwiggins' posting on Craigslist, then met him at a rental unit in a building off of West 66th Avenue, the charges say. She gave Dwiggins $1,400 for rent and a security deposit, and Dwiggins gave her a key.
But the key didn't work the day she was set to move in, and there was another woman at the apartment who said she had also given Dwiggins money to rent it. The second woman said Dwiggins' cell phone had been shut off, so she came to the apartment looking for him, according to the charging document.
The two women and at least four other potential renters soon learned that another man actually owned the apartment building. The real landlord told them Dwiggins was behind on his rent and secretly moved out one night, the charging document says.
Dwiggins is charged with a felony count of fraud and 11 felony counts of theft. Police think he may have had other victims.
Anyone with more information is asked to call Detective Tiffani Loughman at 786-2448. Or call police at 786-8900, call Crime Stoppers at 561-7867, or deliver a tip at www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.