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Local homeowners glad contractor criminally charged after not doing work

PITTSBURGH — A local contractor was charged with pocketing money and not doing work for an 83-year-old woman in Scott Township, according to court documents.

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Court papers said Vincent Baer, with Kale Construction, started work on the victim’s home in August 2018. Police said he told them he was “overextended.” Antoinette Roberto said she hired Baer to renovate the kitchen and two bathrooms of her duplex on Greenbrier Drive, but after paying him more than $7,000, he never did the work.

“I kept asking him, ‘Are you going over?’ He wasn’t doing a thing. He just ripped everything and left it like that,” said Roberto.

After waiting four months, Roberto said she couldn’t wait any longer, so she hired another contractor to do the job.

Roberto is not the only alleged victim, either.

Baer was also charged with theft -- accused of pocketing nearly $4,000 he received from another homeowner in Crafton. Investigators said that payment was supposed to have been paid to a subcontractor but wasn’t.

When Channel 11 spoke with Baer, he said his family “had recently fallen on hard times.” He said he wasn’t being paid by homeowners but intends to reimburse Roberto and the subcontractor at the upcoming court hearing.

According to Baer, he was about to declare bankruptcy when he was charged. He said he had to take out a loan to pay the money back.