Post-Irma contractor charged with theft

A 35-year-old Haughton, Louisiana man was arrested Monday after he left town in 2018 prior to completing work for a customer whose home was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Robert Cody Johnson was charged with grand theft.

Johnson was arrested prior to Monday by authorities in Louisiana on an unrelated matter in that state and was eventually extradited to Key West on the Monroe County grand theft warrant.

The 68-year-old victim of Big Pine Key told Detective Boyd Williams that he met Johnson at a church on Big Pine Key. The victim stated Johnson was down on his luck after Hurricane Irma and the victim felt sorry for him, so the victim hired Johnson to do some work on his home. The victim gave Johnson a $2,500 for materials in May 2018. The check was subsequently cashed the next day. The work was never completed.

Johnson apparently left the Florida Keys soon thereafter.

Johnson remained at large until he was arrested recently in Louisiana.