BROCKTON — A Plymouth County grand jury has indicted roofer Matt Will, 35, a Pembroke resident who was doing business out of Halifax as Five Star Discount Roofing, on 18 fraud and larceny related charges May 24, District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced recently.
The grand jury returned the indictments against Will charging him with one count each of larceny of property over $1,200 by single scheme, state building code violations, employer failing to have workers’ compensation, money laundering and being a common and notorious thief. Will was also indicted on seven counts of home improvement contracting violations and three counts each of forgery and uttering.
Prosecutors say Will targeted some more than 50 mostly elderly homeowners, beginning in July 2018 at Oak Point, a 55-plus community in Middleboro, when at least 15 individuals began reporting that Will had defrauded them out of funds ranging from $800 to $12,000 by starting contracting work and not completing it or simply taking the funds and absconding.
But the case languished, as police and the Middleboro building inspector appeared to continue to give opportunities for Will to catch up with his work.
Eventually, Will had multiple cases in courts in Falmouth, Plymouth and Wareham District Courts as his theft allegedly spread beyond Middleboro, and the grand jury investigation revealed “a substantial criminal enterprise” involving 50 or more victims across the state.
In total, the alleged victims have lost at least an estimated $250,000 and have been found so far in Kingston, Duxbury, Brockton, Plympton, Wareham, North Easton, Hanson, Falmouth and Pembroke in addition to Middleboro.
Many of the district court charges will be dismissed against Will, as is typical when someone is indicted, and he will be arraigned in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton at a later date.
Will was arrested Thursday, May 9, at his Furnace Colony Drive home in Pembroke, after a run from the law and a police standoff.
He first fled justice April 10 as the indictments against him loomed and after he missed a Falmouth District Court arraignment, then was arrested May 4 in Rockland following a dramatic escape from police after leading them on two multi-town high-speed chases in central Massachusetts into Rhode Island the night before, according to court records and police reports.
He was then released by a Hingham District Court judge, who was not made aware of the chase by prosecutors, according to audio of the hearing, was ordered to Wareham District Court by 4:30, but fled again and was finally re-arrested after a tense standoff with police in Pembroke.
As law enforcement personnel attempted to execute a search warrant at his Pembroke home, Will hid from police in his attic. Police used canines to extricate him from the attic, and he was injured after wrestling with the dogs and falling through the ceiling.
He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth and released the next day – Friday, May 10 – to Plymouth County Correctional Facility. He was expected in Wareham District Court the following Monday, May 13, and when he was not transported there by the Plymouth County Sherriff’s Department, the Express learned that he was a patient Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, where a Department of Corrections ward is located.
The Express has confirmed that as of press time, Will remains at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, nearly three weeks after his arrest.
His condition is unknown.