How Western Springs Cops Caught A Scammer: Report

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A Western Springs resident received many excuses about why a so-called contractor failed to perform work after the resident made a down payment of $5,000 in the spring, police said.

Through a public records request, Patch received the full police report on the case against Tony Yobnovich, 60, of Des Plaines, who faces a felony charge of home repair fraud.

In April, the resident, who lives in the 3900 block of Howard Avenue, paid Yobnovich $5,000 to start a job on his property and agreed to pay another $3,000 upon completion, police said.

Yobnovich, supposedly working for "A1 Roofing and Construction," told the resident the work would start in a week, police said. That did not happen.

The resident, who filed the police report in July, told officers he spoke with different people who were supposedly working for A1 and was given a new excuse each time why the work had not begun.

Western Springs police came upon a 2011 case in which Bensenville police arrested Yobnovich in connection with a scam, the report said.

With that information, Western Springs officers conducted a photo line-up of Yobnovich and similar-looking men, according to the police report. The victim picked Yobnovich as the suspect.

Officers also found A1 filled out an application for a village building permit for the Howard Avenue house six weeks after taking the down payment.

The business was listed at a house in the 100 block of North Kenilworth Ave. in Mount Prospect. When Western Springs detectives showed up, they found an eviction notice on the front door, the report said.

In a phone call, the landlord told the detectives that Yobnovich hadn't paid his rent in a year, which the landlord said had ruined him financially. The landlord said he had no idea where Yobnovich moved to, police said.

The detectives then contacted a Skokie detective who works on such cases. He worked his contacts and found an address for Yobnovich in the 1700 block of Rand Road in Des Plaines.

Interviewed outside his house in late November, Yobnovich told Western Springs detectives he was unaware of any job in Western Springs. Pressed, though, Yobnovich acknowledged his dealings with the victim, police said.

Yobnovich said he was trying to get the money back to the victim, but had been having some hard times recently.

He said he would pay back the resident because he did not want to go to jail. Detectives arrested him within 15 minutes of showing up.

At the police station, Yobnovich said he was only an A1 employee and that the owner was responsible for not returning the money, police said. The detectives asked about the owner, prompting Yobnovich to give different stories, according to the report.

Challenged whether the owner was a real person, Yobnovich said she was, but finally conceded he was using her name for his business, police said.

Yobnovich said he used the $5,000 to advertise the business, police said.

He was released and given a date to appear in Cook County Court.

A1 Roofing and Construction is listed as being in Mount Prospect on the Yelp and Better Business Bureau websites, with commenters saying the business is a scam.