The first day at a new job...

The first day at a new job can be tough. Just ask Robert Henry Hunter.

Hunter, 30, started last week as a mechanic at the Lomita Sheriff’s Station.

Hunter worked for Holmes & Narver Services Inc., which provides mechanics for all of the county government’s cars, trucks and motorcycles.

When Hunter began work on two squad cars inside the sheriff’s garage on Narbonne Avenue last week, deputies were in the station next door completing a background check on their new mechanic.

The review showed that Hunter, of Torrance, had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court after being charged with possessing narcotics, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Shane Robley.

“He was under the hood of a car working on it when I showed him the warrant and told him he was under arrest,” Robley said.

Robley said he handcuffed Hunter and escorted him inside the station for fingerprinting and mug shots. Hunter was issued a citation and ordered to appear Oct. 31 in Compton Municipal Court to answer the drug charge.

He was also fired by Holmes & Narver.

Hunter could not be reached for comment, but he reportedly told deputies that the warrant was the product of a misunderstanding. Hunter said he had appeared in court on the day ordered but assumed that the case was dismissed when the clerk could not find a copy of the case file, Robley said.

The sheriff’s station has a new mechanic this week. His record reads “no warrants,” Robley said.