An unlicensed contractor that law enforcement representatives call a “predator of the elderly” is back in jail.

Richard Niger was arrested this week after St. Petersburg police say he did unlicensed, shoddy work at the business and home of Jane Lane.

It’s not the first time this contractor was busted on similar charges. He was out on bond and awaiting a trial on dozens of charges in Pinellas County. The last time he was arrested, in February, he was also out on bond.

This time, bond was not offered. 

“There’s some things that have to be in place before you can go into somebody’s home or somebody’s business and conduct that kind of work,” said Sandra Bentil, a spokeswoman for the St. Petersburg Police Department. 

Lane said she was vulnerable when she was introduced to Richard Niger because her husband recently passed away. She hired the contractor to help spruce up her car wash business and home. 

He was supposed to pressure wash, paint and work on roofing tiles, Lane said. 

He kept asking for more money and did bad work. 

“In five days, [I paid] over $7,000, stupidly,” Lane said. 

Workers even started work she didn’t ask for, ripping off stucco on the side of her home, then asking her to pay for them to repair the home. 

“It was a horrible, horrible job, and it destroyed more than it helped,” Lane said. 

Lane got suspicious and her daughter started researching the contractor. She found our Better Call Behnken report from February.

“I saw your story and knew I had been had,” Lane said. 

Niger is in jail with no opportunity for bond and is sent to appear before a Pinellas County judge Oct. 15.

Hearings are scheduled on all of his 33 charges. 

Meanwhile, Lane said she stepped forward to warn others. 

“I just want other people to remember my story, so it’ll never happen to them,” Lane said. “Be careful who [you] trust.”