Unregistered Contractor Took $150K For Promised Work, Never Did Toms River Repairs: Police

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakehurst man is accused of defrauding several Toms River homeowners by soliciting home repair work and getting deposits but never doing the work, Toms River police said Thursday.

Robert Cohan, 35, of Lakehurst, has been charged with second-degree theft by deception and multiple counts of being an unregistered home improvement contractor, said Jillian Messina, media relations specialist for the Toms River Police Department. Additional charges are pending, she said.

Cohan started soliciting residents in the Gardens of Pleasant Plains in February, to do repairs to driveways, sidewalk, roofs and other home repairs, Messina said.

The investigation by Toms River Police Detective Robert O’Neill found Cohan collected more than $150,000, she said. Cohan would collect an initial deposit, then return later and solicit more money, but he never performed the promised work.

Cohan also is accused of fraudulently using the name of his family’s construction company name in the scheme, Messina said.

The charge of second-degree theft by deception was approved by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, she said. Cohan is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.