Robert Wilson allegedly had been conning people and passing bad checks in Lancaster County for years, and getting away with it, according to authorities.

Early Wednesday morning, however, the 38-year-old landscaper and contractor, wanted as a fugitive in Connecticut and facing five outstanding warrants in Lancaster County, was arrested by members of the county's Fugitive Task Force while he was hiding at a relative's home in Upper Leacock Township.

Wilson, who told authorities he has no permanent address, was arraigned before city District Judge Janice Jimenez and sent to county prison in lieu of $2.5 million cash bail.

Now the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office wants to know if there are people out there who may have been scammed by Wilson but have not reported the alleged crimes to police.

"Just in asking around, trying to find him, we came across a couple of people who told us he owed them money," said Deputy U.S. Marshal Alan Stifler, who is assigned to Lancaster County.

According to state Trooper Richard Drum, Wilson served nearly four years in prison in Connecticut for hundreds of crimes, including passing bad checks, theft by deception and violating home-improvement contract requirements.

Those charges stemmed from several scams Drum said Wilson conducted as a contractor and landscaper.

Wilson apparently moved to Lancaster County after he was released from prison around 2003 and, according to authorities, he started conning people here.

His five outstanding county bench warrants all stem from theft by deception charges for the following alleged crimes:

• Issuing a bad check through his company, Three Brothers Builders, to a Lititz woman in 2003 for $55,000 as the result of a civil-suit order.

• Taking $26,000 from a woman in 2004 to purchase two city properties for her he was not authorized by the owners to sell. Police said Wilson simply pocketed the money.

• Issuing a bad check in 2004 to a Manheim Township building-supplies company for $3,368 for roofing materials.

• Issuing a bad check in 2005 to an auto-body shop in Akron for $3,379 for work done on his pickup truck.

• Issuing two bad checks totaling $10,183 in the Ephrata area in May and June 2005 for flowers and groceries he purchased.

None of the five cases has been prosecuted, according to Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Monica Mosley, who is assigned to the case.

Wilson had posted bail after each of his arrests.

His arrest in Lancaster County in December for allegedly passing a bad check in Manheim Township violated the terms of his parole in Connecticut. He returned to Connecticut and was subsequently freed on $250,000 bail.

In March, authorities in Connecticut issued a warrant for Wilson's arrest after he failed to show up for a hearing.

Stifler said that's when he and Drum started looking for him, and subsequently discovered more crimes that Wilson allegedly committed but for which he had not been charged.

In one instance, Stifler said, Wilson allegedly used the company name of a relative to order mulch from a Lebanon County firm.

Stifler said Wilson used the mulch on landscaping jobs he was doing near Reading within the past two months, but he never paid for the mulch, and his relative said her company didn't authorize the purchase.

The investigation of that incident is ongoing, according to Stifler.

Also, county detectives are investigating the recent alleged theft by Wilson of $20,000 worth of flowers from a Lancaster County company, which Wilson was supposed to sell as part of a church benefit.

Detectives declined to elaborate on that investigation because it is ongoing.

Stifler said he finally began to zero in on Wilson's whereabouts Friday when Wilson took a car he had rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in New Holland and left it at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot on Manheim Pike in Manheim Township.

"He owed money on it, so he didn't want to take it back to where he rented it," Stifler said.

When Enterprise officials found the car, they notified police, who called Stifler.

Stifler said he viewed surveillance video from a camera mounted next door to the Enterprise lot and spotted Wilson dropping off the rental car.

He also got a good look at the pickup truck that Wilson entered after he dropped off the car.

Stifler said he knew Wilson would sometimes stay with relatives at their Upper Leacock Township home. He checked the home early Wednesday morning and spotted the pickup truck.

"Once we saw that, we figured he was there," Stifler said.

According to Drum, Wilson was hiding in a child's bedroom on the second floor of the house when police searched it.

He was taken into custody without incident.

"Given what we know about this guy, we think there are others out there who have been conned by him who haven't come forward and reported him," Stifler said. "We want to talk to those people."

Anyone who believes he or she was conned by Wilson or received a bad check from him is urged to call the District Attorney's Office at 299-8100.

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com