$70K stolen from more than a dozen families in Colorado Springs

UPDATE: Our team continues to hear from victims of Robert Daniel Wright. The total number of reported losses now reaches more than $100K impacting atleast 14 families over the past 3 years.

Previous Story: Complaints have been made against K.H. Roofing & Construction by more than a dozen families living in a mobile home park in Colorado Springs.

“I’m crying because water went inside my home during the winter and I kept getting sick,” said Rocio Martinez, a victim of contractor Robert Daniel Wright.

Our team dug through each insurance check made to the company following the July 2016 hail storms – totaling a whopping $70,923.

Martinez is one of many that have been living in an unfinished home for the past three years:

“I lost $8,500” “I lost $3,000” “We’ve lost $10,200” “More than $6,000”

A total of 14 families dealing with unfinished roofs, siding, cracked windows, and holes in their walls.

“People like that don’t belong on this planet as far as I’m concerned,” said Michael Wheat, one of the 14 victims living at the Springs Roberts Community.

Every family told KRDO they’ve attempted to get ahold of Robert Wright but he hasn’t responded to any call, text, or email.

“They were scamming them out of their money, leaving their homes with mold growing and children living in the house,” said Kristi Hunter, a community property manager.

A real nightmare — that has become a reality for these families.

Pictured above, is Hunter showing one home where she said Wright completely stripped off the siding of the house and left it that way for three years.

KRDO reached out to Wright and the company’s listed phone number online several times, but have yet to hear back. Wright currently has a revoked license with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

So what do you do next?

KRDO sat down with CSPD’s Financial Crimes Unit Sergeant Joe Matiatos who explained the first step is to file a police report over the phone.

“Tell them you want a report, it’s important it gets routed to the right person…you want to report a cold fraud with suspect information,” Matiatos said.

The Cold Fraud with Suspect Information will go directly to the financial crimes unit.

This type of case is important for people like Martinez {who gave all her insurance money to Wright} and who said three years following the hail storm, none of the work on her original contract was completed.

“That’s contractor fraud, that’s a theft, that’s something you can report to the police,” said Matiatos.

Whereas people like Michael Wheat, who paid Wright $5,000 of his insurance money has a different situation.

“He finished doing almost everything, except the metal roof over my porch,” Wheat said.

If a contractor does most of the work, but it’s just not to your liking — that won’t qualify as ‘theft’ and police will tell you to file in small claims court.

If you’re in doubt, you can always file a report regadless and detectives will tell you what your situation qualifies for. Just remember to act quickly.

“Our statue of limitation is three years, so if this happened in 2016, you can still report it, but we have to do something before those three years are up,” Matiatos said.

For more information on the Financial Crimes Unit, click here.