A Bloomfield man who accepted $1,000 down on a home improvement project to update an elderly woman’s bathroom is accused of taking the cash but not getting the work done.

Robert Joseph Henderson, 55, Bloomfield, was booked into the Greene County Jail around 1:45 p.m., Wednesday, February 19, after a warrant was issued for his arrest last Friday, February 14.

Henderson has been under investigation by Deputy David Elmore of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department since mid-January when a daughter talked to him about her 78-year-old mother who she said had paid Henderson $1,000 for work to be done at her mother’s home. The daughter said Henderson didn’t do any work.

When Deputy Elmore interviewed the 78-year-old woman, she explained that back in October of 2019, she was looking for someone to take her old bath tub out and install a new bath tub with new grab bars and faucets. She talked to a man who recommended Henderson for the job and Henderson then called her.

The woman said Henderson arrived at her home on October 19 to look at the job and give her an estimate. She provided the deputy with a receipt dated October 19 from RJH Flooring/Robert Henderson confirming the receipt of $1,000 paid with a balance due of an additional $1,165 to “take out tub and build shower, install new fixtures and grab bar.” She said she gave him ten $100 bills and Henderson said he would start on the project the following Monday.

The woman said Henderson did not show up on that Monday and when he did show up on October 30, she told him she wanted her money back. Henderson allegedly said he did not have her money. She claimed that when she said she needed the project done because she had no way to take a shower, Henderson said she could go to his place and take a shower. The woman provided the deputy with another receipt dated October 30 that stated, “I, Robert J. Henderson DBA RJH Flooring will refund the down payment of $1,000 for bathroom. Because I was late for the job. 10-30-2019. After I take materials back and get the rest!!!!? 1-1-2020.”

When Deputy Elmore talked to Henderson in February, he allegedly admitted he did not do the work and had not repaid the money, saying he has no way of paying it back and the woman can sue him like other people have.

In a probable cause affidavit prepared by Deputy Elmore, he wrote that in the four months since Henderson took the $1,000, “He has not completed any work as promised, has not returned any of the money he accepted as payment for the project and he has not returned any materials purchased with that $1,000, if any were ever purchased.”

Henderson’s bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $400 and was released from jail the same day as his arrest. He is scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court on March 2 to face a charge of theft where the value of the property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony.