BATON ROUGE - Police said they arrested a Watson appliance repairman after an 85-year-old victim contacted them to say the man had ripped him off.

37-year-old Evan Stribling was booked into the parish prison on charges of felony theft, theft of assets from aged/disabled person and misapplication of contractor pay.

The victim told police that he contacted Stribling back in November after his refrigerator broke. Stribling was employed by Ace Appliances Repair Shop, which the victim found while searching in the Yellow Pages.

Stribling came to the victim’s home on Nov. 11 to conduct repairs on the fridge. He told the victim that the cost for the repairs would be $869.98, but he would need to order a part that would take a few days to arrive.

The victim paid Stribling with a check, but when he tried to contact the man after several days had passed, he found he was unable to reach Stribling.

After the victim contacted the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, it was learned by investigators that this isn’t the first time Stribling has committed a crime of this type.

Warrants were issued for Stribling’s arrest, and he was taken into custody on Thursday.