LAKE COUNTY – Local and state officials are looking for a man who has allegedly been running an illegal paving operation for years that has resulted in numerous people being ripped off.
The Contractors State Licensing Board has listed Richard John Williams, 64, of Lakeport among its most wanted.
The Lake County District Attorney's Office also has issued a $750,000 warrant for Williams' arrest, the licensing board reported.
Williams has a long history of unlicensed, illegal contracting and substandard work, officials reported.
He had been living in a motel and operating in the Lake County area for at least the first few months of this year under the business name of “Seal Coat Contractor,” according to the Contractors State Licensing Board.
He's also operated under the business names of “Asphalt Sealing Crack Filling and Patching” and “Richard Williams Seal Coat Contractor.”
Williams has been arrested numerous times, including a 2005 multi-victim case in Mendocino County. He has operated his paving scam in a number of Northern California communities and is known to have worked in Sonoma, Sacramento, Mendocino, Yolo, and Colusa counties.
Among the violations listed against him are grand theft, elder abuse, contracting without a license and illegal advertising, according to the licensing board.
Williams was arrested by the District Attorney's Office on March 19 on misdemeanor charges of advertising as a contractor without a license and contracting without a license, with bail set at $1,000 for each of the charges, according to jail records.
He appeared in Lake County Superior Court on March 23 for sentencing on a prior felony construction-related case and then was released on bail, the licensing board reported.
However, since additional charges were filed following the March 19 arrest, Williams was rescheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on April 27. It is believed that he has left the Lake County area.
Williams is described as 6 feet 1 inches tall and 250 pounds, with gray hair, a fair complexion and blue-green eyes. He wears glasses and has tattoos on his forearms.
He is associated with a white 2008 Chevrolet Silverado with an Arizona license plate, ABN8561, and may be pulling or parked near a trailer with a tank with the California license plate, 4KB5826.
The Contractors State License Board said that anyone who sees Williams shouldn't attempt to apprehend him themselves, but should immediately call local law enforcement and then the licensing board itself at 916-255-2924.
