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NICK COLLINSThe builder, working without a proper license, never finished a home theater for which he was paid, authorities say.
A Clearwater contractor was arrested Thursday and charged with grand theft and working without a license after he received more than $50,000 to install a home theater and never completed the job, authorities said.
Eric L. Bates, 37, operated Acoustic Solutions Home Theater Design, which was hired to put a theater in a Tarpon Springs home on Riverside Ridge Road owned by William and Claudette Reynolds, according to court documents.
In addition to the Reynoldses paying $51,182 for incomplete work, some expensive electronic equipment in the Reynolds home "mysteriously disappeared, apparently taken by one of Bates' employees," according to an investigator's sworn statement. Prosecutors Friday declined to divulge the value of the equipment.
The Reynoldses could not be reached for comment. They filed a complaint with Pinellas County consumer services on May 10, said Keith Parks, the supervisor of the office's criminal investigation section.
Bates' attorney said the complaint originated because of a misunderstanding about the scope and schedule of the work.
"This is a civil matter that has gotten out of hand," said attorney Patrick Calcutt of St. Petersburg. "It's something that could have been resolved if we had known it was moving in this direction."
Calcutt said the first notice Bates received about a criminal investigation was a sheriff's deputy standing outside his door to arrest him. Bates was released from the Pinellas County Jail on Thursday after posting $25,000 bail.
Bates plans to file a plea of not guilty and will "stand behind the work that was done and he'll make it right," Calcutt said.
No arraignment date has been set, Assistant State Attorney Doug Crow said.
Calcutt said he believed prosecutors likely will seek restitution for the victims' alleged losses.
Parks said this case was the only complaint his office has received for Bates' work on home theaters.
Court documents state that Bates never has held a contractor's license of any type. Parks said the Reynolds job was not the only home theater project Bates has done.
Calcutt said Bates may not have had the proper licensing when he was working on the Reynolds home between October 2003 and May 2004, but he since has obtained it.
"There was some confusion as to what types of licenses he needed for what types of work," Calcutt said. "Sometimes the licensing regulations are as clear as mud."
This is not the first time Bates has faced this kind of problem. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to charges of unlicensed swimming pool contracting. Bates is listed as a registered agent for Pool Solutions of Tampa Bay, an inactive corporation.
In that case he was sentenced to community service and ordered to pay $3,817 to a pool owner.
Calcutt said his client is determined to resolve his situation with the Reynoldses so that both parties are satisfied.
"He fully intended to complete the work, and if there's anything that is undone, he'll make it right," Calcutt said. "Eric is a fairly longtime resident of this county. He's not taking money and leaving town."
Nick Collins can be reached at ncollins@sptimes.com or 727 771-4307.