A Suffolk County contractor has been arrested for scamming customers out of thousands of dollars.

According to Suffolk police, Steven Vitagliano accepted payments to install fencing from at least 10 customers and never showed up to do the work.

Engaged couple Kathleen Reda and Michael Larson, of Shirley, needed a new fence for their new home. They enlisted Vitagliano, owner of Mastic-based company Line Up Fence Corp.

“I’ve known Steve for over 30 years,” said Reda. “People vouched for him. He’s in the community. He lives a few blocks over so we thought, you know what, let’s keep it community.”

The couple was working against the clock to install their new fence. They needed it done in order to repave their driveway. When the couple met with Vitagliano, he requested a $2,000 dollar deposit up front. They told News 12 Long Island that he took the money and never came back.

“Every time – just said, ‘Well, it’ll be done next week. It’ll be done in two days.’ Zero work was ever done,” said Larson. “He never touched our fence. He never removed the old fence. He never showed up again.”

Reda shared their story on Facebook and found they weren’t alone. The couple identified at least eight other customers that paid Vitagliano for work he never did.

“We’re out $2,000, but there’s people out $4,000, $5,000, $8,000, $10,000 and that’s insane in this economy,” added Reda. “There’s a lot of us and more people are coming forward.”

The couple reached out to Suffolk police with a list of people who had complaints about Line Up Fence Corp. Authorities arrested Vitagliano for scamming at least 10 customers out of $20,000 over a six-month period.

Police said he made verbal and written agreements to install fencing on several residential properties within the confines of the Seventh Precinct. Vitagliano would allegedly accept payment in the form of cash or checks and fail to do the contracted work before he cut off communication with customers. 

News 12 Long Island tried calling and texting Vitagliano to hear his side of the story. He declined to comment.  

Despite good reviews online, Line Up Fence has an ‘F’ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is not an accredited business. Reda and Larson are now warning others to do their homework when searching for a contractor.

“Check reviews of businesses. But, unfortunately, dive a little deeper than that because his reviews were pretty good and he came recommended by several other contractors because his work was good,” Larson said.

Anyone who has additional information, or who believes they may have been a victim, is asked to call Suffolk police.