RACINE, Wis. — A Racine heating and cooling contractor accused of taking thousands of dollars from customers without completing work failed to appear in court Tuesday, and a new arrest warrant has been filed against her.
Amanda Putzer-Gonzales, owner of T & A Heating and Cooling, was charged last week with several felony counts of theft by contractor after investigators say customers paid her more than $37,000 for work that was never completed.
Watch: Former customers who are owed thousands react to Racine business owner's criminal charges:
Putzer-Gonzales was due in court Tuesday on an unrelated case but did not show, despite having several existing arrest warrants.
Racine Police Department Investigator Sean Kras said his department is continuing to search for Putzer-Gonzales.
"Well I mean if she's you know, stopped on a traffic stop we can always pick her up that way, or I mean we'll still keep looking at these addresses that we have for her," Kras said.
Among those waiting for answers are customers Winston Bohorquez and Noel Veltri, who paid Putzer-Gonzales thousands of dollars for a boiler installation they never received.
When TMJ4 News first reported on the charges last week, Veltri said she and Bohorquez felt a sense of relief, but it was short-lived.
"I was sitting on the couch, he was cooking and I was like 'omg TMJ4 just posted this,'" Veltri said. "I read him the report and we're like 'yes! Finally!' just relief," she added.
Bohorquez, however, quickly tempered that relief with the reality of their situation.
"She has no assets, no money to really pay it back, not to mention I'm one in line with whoever else is gonna come through and say 'hey me too, me too,'" he said.
"I just want to be paid back so bad," Veltri added.
"It's bittersweet. It's like okay cool maybe she'll learn a lesson from this. Still gotta move forward from everything, I can't sit and rest and think about it any longer. I just gotta move on," Winston said.
"We're being heard and the karma is coming to her, but at the same time I'm still not going to be made whole no matter what happens," Winston said.
If you know where Amanda Putzer-Gonzales is, call Racine Police.
This story was reported on-air by Jenna Rae and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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