Roofing Employee Wanted, Accused Of Intentionally Damaging Roof

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA — A Douglas County man, who works at a roofing company, is wanted on a second degree criminal damage to property charge and is accused of intentionally damaging a homeowner's roof.

Paul Jeffrey Kelley, 57, an employee of Straight Line Roofing in Villa Rica, came to a home on Edinburgh Drive in March to inspect a roof for possible storm damage, according to a Dec. 9 arrest warrant obtained by the Douglas County Sentinel.

While the homeowner was watching, Kelley began flipping upward and placing pressure on at least 14 shingles on the garage area of the roof, the warrant states. According to a news release from the OCI, Kelley was seen damaging even more shingles using a Nest doorbell camera.

“In March of 2021, a homeowner contacted the suspect to do a roof inspection after his home received storm damage,” the release said. “Through the use of personal home security cameras, Mr. Kelley was seen damaging 241 shingles on the roof to require the owner to replace his entire roof.”

Kelley is also accused of telling the homeowner to contact their insurance company about the roof damage.

According to the warrant, another roofing company came to the Winston home after Kelley had been there, and told the homeowner that the roof looked like it had damage consistent with vandalism. The company wouldn't do any work until authorities and insurance companies were notified, the Sentinel reported.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the OCI's criminal investigations division warrant line at 404-463-6363.