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Baldwinsville, N.Y. — Ed and Theresa Polimeni were looking forward to building an addition to their Baldwinsville home. They wanted more space for their family of four kids and three dogs.
They found a contractor online who they thought offered them a good deal, and made a down payment of $5,875 in August. The job would be done in about a month, the Polimenis said the man told them.
Three months later, there is an 11-foot-deep hole in the family’s backyard. And they said the contractor who walked away with nearly $62,000 of their money isn’t who he first appeared to be.
The contractor, Dakota A. Smith, 29, has pleaded guilty to charges in three Upstate New York counties for pocketing money he had been paid to renovate homes. He was arrested earlier this month in Onondaga County after he was accused of taking a $5,000 deposit from a Bayberry family and walking away, according to State Police.
Authorities are now examining how many other Central New York families may have hired Smith, and whether any work he agreed to do was completed. A spokesperson for the State Police said the agency is aware of four victims “for certain.”
Peter Hakes, the prosecutor handling Smith’s case in Onondaga County, said about a dozen complaints about Smith have been filed with law enforcement. Some potential victims have already been interviewed, with more scheduled in the coming days and weeks.
“This is a very active, ongoing investigation,” he said.
Smith is being held on no bail in Onondaga County jail. He’s been charged with 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-degree grand larceny.
The Polimenis, who are both 35 years old, said they were excited to make an addition to their Lock Street home a decade after they bought it.
They gathered together their savings — Teresa works at the Angry Garlic restaurant, and Ed delivers Pepperidge Farm bread. They also took out home equity loan.
The first contractors they spoke with gave them expensive quotes, so Theresa Polimeni turned in August to the NextDoor app to try to find other companies.
Smith quickly responded using a different name — Dakota Andrews, they said — and came by the house the same day to meet her. He returned the next day to meet her husband.
“He’s a really smooth talker,” Ed Polimeni said. “He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Made it all sound really good.”
The couple searched online for the name he was using and his company name, but nothing came up. Later, they would search Dakota and contractor and found his arrests.
They said they signed a contract in August with DA Design and Build LLC, Smith’s purported firm. The company does not exist, according to records from the New York State Department of State.
The Polimenis gave Smith a 10% deposit of about $5,900. He was to prepare architectural drawings and get a permit from the village.
The project was delayed several weeks, they said. Crews started digging up the family’s backyard in late September.
The Polimenis said they were shocked when they soon got a letter in the mail from the village code enforcement office. No permit had been issued to Smith.
Smith told the Polimenis he had gotten all of the necessary approvals. Ed Polimeni said he went down to the code enforcement office and a worker there told him they had never met Smith.
Smith also appeared to have issues with his subcontractors, the couple said. The company excavating the backyard told the Polimenis they weren’t getting paid by Smith, and walked away from the project in mid-October.
A couple days of rain ate away at the exposed earth, causing parts of it to cave in, Ed Polimeni said.
A hydraulic jack was slid under a crawl space in the back of the house to help hold it up. A deck to an aboveground pool is lashed to two large concrete slabs to keep it from falling in the hole. There is a pump running 24/7 to drain the water collecting in the massive hole.
The Polimenis said they don’t allow their kids, who are 4 to 11 years old, to play anymore in the backyard, which has a trampoline and other equipment.
“They were all out here all the time,” Theresa Polimeni said. “Life is really different.”
Ed Polimeni said his family gave almost $62,000 to Smith, and estimated work worth about $15,000 or so has been completed. A GoFundMe fundraiser has raised about $7,900 for the family.
The new goal for the Polimenis is to fill in the massive hole in their backyard before winter arrives. They’re working directly with a concrete contractor to get that done.
“The destruction he’s done here is crazy,” Theresa Polimeni said.
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Troopers ask anyone with information about Smith to call them at 315-366-6000 and refer to case NY2400786199.
Are you a homeowner who has had a dispute with contractor Dakota Smith? We would like to hear your story. Email [email protected] or [email protected].
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Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at [email protected] or @mossjon7.
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