Local contractors arrested after allegedly accepting over $445k for work they never did

By Kaitlyn Hart

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    ARCO, Idaho (eastidahonews.com) — Two people are behind bars after allegedly accepting over $445,000 for construction work they never completed.

Ross Boocks, 43, and Kristine Oetting, 43, are each charged with 11 counts of felony grand theft by false promise.

On April 29, 2022, a Blackfoot couple contacted a detective with the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and said they had hired a contractor from K&R Builders, which Boocks and Oetting own.

The couple explained they had contracted a remodel on their Blackfoot home and made an initial down payment of $49,000 in December 2021 for construction to begin.

As time went on, the couple says they began feeling that Boocks was giving them excuses for why he was not progressing on the building. According to court documents, Boocks told the couple he needed more money to pay for removing concrete that he claimed was not up to code.

Because of this, the couple paid Boocks an additional two checks – one for $25,000 to remove the concrete and the other for $28,000 to pay for the labor.

By this point, the couple had paid $102,000 to K&R builders, and no additional work had been done.

On March 30, 2022, Boocks reportedly texted the couple and said that rebar was going to be delivered later that week.

The rebar was never delivered, and no one showed up to do any work.

The detective later interviewed Boocks and Oetting about the alleged theft. Boocks told the detective that he always receives money up-front for materials but admitted he never actually purchased any materials for the job.

These events led to the detective meeting with officials in Butte County, where K&R Builders is located.

In the police report, the detective says he met with Butte County Sheriff Dave Hansen, who says he had “several complaints involving this type of action in his county.”

The detective later found complaints from individuals in Custer County as well.

The detective was then given a list of the names of all individuals who had filed complaints and dollar amounts that they had paid K&R builders, reportedly without having any work done in exchange.

The list totaled ten more people who had filed complaints and alleged that K&R builders had accepted at least $445,880 without completing any work and in many of the cases, never starting any of the construction they had agreed to do.

A warrant was issued for Boocks’ arrest on May 9 and he was booked into the Butte County Jail with a bond of $100,000.

Oetting was arrested on May 25 and was booked into the Butte County Jail with a bond of $75,000.

Boocks is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 6 while Oetting appeared for her initial appearance on Monday. Court proceedings for her are yet to be scheduled.

Though Boocks and Oetting have been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean they committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If convicted, they could face up to 154 years in prison and $55,000 in fines.

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