AUBURN — Described as the local poster boy for home repair fraud, 53-year-old Harold Soper failed to appear in court Thursday and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Arrested in August and indicted in September, the Lewiston man had been ordered to appear in court for arraignment on charges of home repair fraud and theft by unauthorized taking.

He failed to show. Police were searching for him later Thursday.

For Soper, the charges are only the latest in a long string of them. Since 1999, he has been convicted seven times of home repair fraud, most often accused of bilking the elderly out of money after promising to fix their homes.

In a message from the Maine Attorney General’s Office warning of home repair scams, Soper is mentioned as an example of a typical scam artist. Over the past decade, several complaints of fraud against him have been posted with the Better Business Bureau.

Lewiston and Auburn police have warned the public about doing business with him.

Police say the most recent complaints against him are the same as the old ones: Soper is accused of taking money upfront for home repairs that are never done. His victims, police say, are usually older people.

In 2005, Soper was charged with taking $200 from a Hevey Street man and then disappearing before any work was done on the man’s home.

The 61-year-old victim told police that Soper came to his home and offered to repair his chimney.

The two men agreed on a price of $300, according to the complaint. Soper collected $100 that day and later returned requesting another $100, saying he would agree to a final price of $200 if the man would pay upfront.

More money was exchanged. Weeks passed. When the victim reached a woman at Soper’s telephone number and warned that he was going to police, Soper returned to the man’s house and begged for more time.

Another three weeks passed, and no work was done on the chimney. The victim finally contacted police, who issued a warrant and ultimately arrested Soper.

When he was arrested in that case, he was already facing previous charges of cheating a Lewiston man out of more than $1,000. He was later convicted. Soper also has convictions for burglary, theft and drug trafficking.

AUBURN — A former volunteer firefighter pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he set fire to a Mechanic Falls restaurant in July.

Joshua Michaud, 18, of Mechanic Falls, remained free on $500 bail pending his next court date. Conditions of his release include staying away from 68 Maple St., the address of the Loose Caboose Restaurant and Lounge, which sustained $30,000 in damages.

Michaud was ordered to take his medications as prescribed and not to use or have incendiary devices, a jail administrator said.

Michaud had been a member of the Minot Volunteer Fire Department. He was charged July 19 after state fire investigators spent about seven hours combing the fire scene for clues. Firefighters managed to contain the blaze to keep it from spreading throughout the building.

Also arraigned in Androscoggin County Superior Court Wednesday was 21-year-old William Panzino, an Auburn man who was charged in connection with a hit-and-run accident in July.

Panzino denied charges of aggravated assault and reckless conduct stemming from the crash at Great Falls Plaza.

At an earlier court appearance, Panzino was ordered to have no contact with Kyle Karkos, the man he allegedly ran down the night of a carnival at Great Falls Plaza in Auburn. Panzino also was prohibited from entering Karkos’ home, workplace or school.

Police said Karkos was walking across the street that cuts through Great Falls Plaza after exchanging words with someone riding in Panzino’s car. Police said Karkos had been involved in a fight earlier in the evening with one of Panzino’s friends.

Karkos was knocked to the ground and taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was treated for cuts and bruises and released. Prosecutors said the incident was connected to an accident in which an Auburn teen was killed years ago. The deceased was a passenger in a car that Karkos was driving. The car went out of control and crashed into a light pole.

Panzino remained free on bail.