Slow Mechanic Is Steered Into Court
When Anthony Shinn of Lake View Terrace took his cherished 1987 Chevrolet Spectrum to a mechanic for some engine work, he knew he’d have to wait a while to get it back.
He didn’t know he’d still be waiting a year later.
On Wednesday, mechanic Frank Perez was arrested for keeping the car in his back yard repair shop since July 24, 1991. Little or no work had been done on the car, so when Shinn has it towed back to his house today, he’ll have to start the hunt for a mechanic all over again.
“I trusted this guy,” Shinn grumbled. “I’m not gonna trust nobody anymore.”
Perez was arrested by Los Angeles bunco detectives while working at the Apollo Tire Co. in Newhall. He was arrested on suspicion of one count of grand theft for taking a $200 deposit from Shinn, one count of failing to give a customer a written estimate for parts and labor, and one count of being an unregistered car repairman.
Perez, who faces a maximum of two years in jail and $3,000 in fines, posted bail and was back to work by late afternoon. He said he wasn’t sure exactly what he had done wrong and that he doesn’t know whether he’ll fight the charges when his case goes to court Aug. 30.
As far as Perez is concerned, he was just trying to help out Shinn, a friend of a friend who had come to him with severe engine problems.
“He said he wanted it fixed, so I did the best I could,” said Perez, 46, of Canoga Park. “I’m no miracle worker.”
Shinn’s ordeal started when a friend told him to take his car to Perez at an Apollo Tire outlet in Canoga Park for engine and axle repairs. Both parties agree that because Perez said there was no room at the shop, he was to take the car to his house and do the work. Perez estimated the job would cost $500 and take two weeks.
Shinn normally drove his wife to work in Sylmar before taking the Spectrum to his job at an aerospace firm in San Fernando. For weeks, his 70-year-old father-in-law spent hours driving Shinn and his wife to and from work. Shinn then bought a gas-guzzling van on credit when the father-in-law tired and the complaints started.
“It made things very hard,” he said of his failure to retrieve the car. “I was frustrated, and my wife kept yelling at me all the time.”
Shinn kept calling Perez at home but said he got Perez’s uncooperative wife or no answer at all. He went to the shop, he said, but company officials said Perez no longer worked there. Finally, Shinn contacted the state Bureau of Automotive Repair in April, and state and local authorities began investigating.
Deputy City Atty. Ellen Pais said there was no evidence that the tire company management or other employees were involved. She said investigators determined that Shinn spent months trying to get his car back and that Perez refused to cooperate.
“There are other businesses that hold on to vehicles for long periods of time,” said Pais, a consumer protection attorney. “But this is the most egregious one I’ve seen.”
Perez has a different interpretation of the events of the past year. He said he spent much of the time waiting for Shinn to decide whether he wanted the car engine fixed or replaced, and said he couldn’t do the work until Shinn provided more money to buy parts. He acknowledged that perhaps he never asked Shinn for the extra money, and then “just assumed he forgot about the car.”
“It’s both our faults,” Perez said. “It’s just one of those deals. It happened.”
