Countywide : Judge Won’t Restrict Auto Shop Practices

A judge has tossed out a request by the Ventura County district attorney for a preliminary injunction to halt fraudulent consumer practices allegedly being committed by a chain of auto transmission shops.

Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Thompson, in a decision Monday, said that the county prosecutor’s evidence was outdated and that many of the alleged violations have been corrected.

The county prosecutor has alleged in a civil case that the chain overcharges customers and has engaged in misleading advertising.

Michael R. King, owner of the Santa Maria-based chain, Trans-King Inc., on Tuesday declared that Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury unfairly accused him of wrongdoing before he had a chance to defend himself in court.

“He jumps off half-cocked and he’s not fair, he’s not reasonable,” King said in a telephone interview.

This was a reference to a televised news conference that Bradbury held in May at which officials from the state Bureau of Automotive Repair alleged that King was grossly overcharging and performing unnecessary repairs.

At the news conference, Bradbury, in response to a question, called King, “a crook, absolutely.” Bradbury could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

King, 52, who has been in business since 1965, said the allegations triggered a sharp decline in business at his six shops in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and that he recently closed two of the Ventura County operations.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda S. Groberg said the charges were based on three years of undercover work by the state Bureau of Automotive Repair.

“There’s no evidence they’ve ceased those practices,” she said.