MIDDLESEX TWP — An Evans City couple is accused of taking $1,450 for a landscaping project that they never finished.

James W. Johns III, 32, and his girlfriend, Nicole M. Fotta, 33, are wanted on felony arrest warrants for home improvement fraud and other charges.

Middlesex Township police said the alleged victim, a woman in her mid-60s, last month reported being defrauded.

She recounted that in May she met with the defendants, who own an at-home landscaping business, to discuss a project at her house on Forsythe Road.

The victim subsequently signed a contract for Johns and Fotta to do landscape work including the installation of mulch, a stairway and trellis, police said. The total project cost was $1,900 for which she paid $950 up front.

According to court documents, the project was to be completed July 4. But that deadline came and went apparently with little work being done.

Police said the victim Aug. 8 texted Fotta and asked for an update on the unfinished project. Fotta, in turn, claimed she had an emergency and asked the woman to pay the remaining balance for the work.

The victim declined to pay the entire amount but made an additional $500 payment.

Still, documents said, weeks passed and the defendants only did minimal work, like weed whacking and changing the fish pond liner.

The victim said that by Sept. 10, her texts to the defendants went unanswered. She subsequently reported the alleged fraud to police, who say they also have been unable to contact Johns or Fotta.

Police on Oct. 2 charged them with deceptive business practices, theft by deception and home improvement fraud, all felonies. That same day, District Judge Sue Haggerty issued the arrest warrants.