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BOARDMAN -- A local contractor already convicted of stealing from customers in three counties has been arrested again.
A Boardman police report shows that John P. Bartos III, 43, of Boardman, was arrested Friday at a Boardman hotel on four outstanding warrants, including one for an alleged probation violation in Mahoning County.
Bartos received four years of probation in Mahoning County after pleading guilty to 18 felony counts involving 25 customers.
Police went to the Holiday Inn on South Avenue shortly after 8:30 a.m. Friday, following an anonymous tip that Bartos was staying there. They found his GMC truck in the south parking lot and hotel staff verified he was in Room 203. The report states police knocked repeatedly on his door, heard movement inside and heard the door locks securing.
While police watched Bartos’ vehicle from the parking lot, the front desk called to say Bartos had come down to the lobby to ask why police were at his door and why they were wearing red sweatshirts. Police then found Bartos upstairs and arrested him.
The Boardman police report states that Bartos had a warrant for a Mahoning County probation-violation warrant, a failure-to-appear warrant from Columbiana County and a warrant for theft from Weathersfield. The report also states there was a fourth-degree felony out of Austintown, but Mahoning County court records show the warrant was really issued from Canfield Court Judge Molly K. Johnson, related to a complaint from Beaver Township
Police allowed Bartos to collect his belongings, and he asked a family member to retrieve his vehicle and property. Officers then transported him to the Mahoning County Justice Center.
The arrest comes less than a month after Bartos failed to appear for an Aug. 21 probation-violation hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court and Judge Scott Washam issued a bench warrant. His attorney, Frank Cassese, appeared, but filed a motion shortly before the hearing seeking to withdraw because of "irreconcilable differences" with Bartos. Prosecutors had moved to revoke Bartos’ probation.
In August, a Weathersfield man told police he contracted in May with Pro Windows and Doors, Bartos's new company, for a $7,000 job. Bartos told him a $3,000 deposit was needed. The man said the check was cashed immediately in May, but Bartos had since repeatedly scheduled and canceled with him, and now would no longer respond to calls or texts.
The charges from Beaver Township are not clear. The Vindicator asked Monday for a copy of the police report in that matter, but it was not provided in time for publication.
In May, Boardman police arrested Bartos on an Allegheny County, Pa., theft-by-deception warrant stemming from allegations that he accepted money for contracting work and failed to perform it or refund the customer. On June 3, Bartos pleaded guilty to an amended charge of disorderly conduct. Allegheny County court records show he is awaiting sentencing on that conviction.
Bartos, formerly the owner of Gridiron Windows and Doors, was convicted in 2024 in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties for accepting customers’ money for home-improvement projects that he either never completed or never began. In Mahoning County, he pleaded guilty to 18 felony counts involving 25 customers and received four years of probation after repaying $103,000. He also received five years of probation in Trumbull County and three years of probation, including 90 days in jail, in Columbiana County.
In December 2024, Bartos was arrested on domestic violence charges, when his estranged wife accused him of assaulting and threatening to kill her. The police report states she said Bartos took her cellphone while she slept, unlocked it and went through it before entering the bedroom in a rage and throwing the phone at her. She said he threatened to kill her, pushed her into the mattress, threw her against a wall and knocked her to the floor, causing her to hit her head.
She also told police Bartos later pressed his fist into her mouth and prevented her from retrieving her phone to call 911. Bartos eventually took the phone and drove to his parents’ home in Hubbard, while his wife used their daughter’s phone to call police. Hubbard police arrested Bartos and turned him over to Boardman officers.
Those charges were dismissed, without prejudice, in May 2025 after then-Mrs. Bartos declined to press charges. Their divorce was granted in December 2025.
As of Monday afternoon, Bartos remains in the Mahoning County jail. No bond has been set. He is scheduled for an appearance in Mahoning County Canfield Court Tuesday morning. Online court records for Columbiana County Common Pleas Court did not show if or when Bartos is due back for a hearing on his failure-to-appear charge.