A San Antonio contractor got himself booked on three counts of felony theft for allegedly taking cash for construction gigs he left hanging. Neil Melendrez, according to KSAT reports, is accused of bagging thousands and not following through on projects ranging from carports to patios.
Melendrez, who has claimed innocence and expressed confusion over the allegations, is reported to have not only taken a lump sum of $8,300 for a carport he didn't finish but also swindled more out of other clients. "I don't know why all these clients are coming out with these deals about all this that I'm stealing from them," Melendrez told KSAT in an interview. The accusations, however, are not solely about unfinished work. The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) says the nail has been hit squarely on the head; it becomes a crime "once you get paid... if the work has not been done," Public Information Officer Ximena Alvarez explained, underscoring the difference between an oversight and intent to deceptively keep the money.
The twist into criminal territory comes when documentation, like phone records and emails, plus a pattern of complaints point to intent to steal rather than just bad business. According to another KSAT article, SAPD Sgt. Washington Moscoso said proving this intent is what throws cases like these out of civil court and into the criminal realm. "It's extremely difficult. That's why the majority of these cases don't rise to the level of a criminal act," Moscoso highlighted.
With SAPD asking more victims to rightfully come forward, the case against Melendrez is getting bulkier. In one instance, he reportedly took $2,000 for a patio and then had the gall to ask for $2,600 more without laying a brick. "Well I do apologize, but y'all are doing wrong on this," Melendrez said in response to the charges, as per his exchange with KSAT. If convicted, these charges could seal Melendrez in a tight box of legal troubles for each job left undone and each client left out to dry.
