BURBANK : 2 Auto Repair Shop Owners Arrested

Two Burbank auto repair shop owners were arrested Thursday after separate investigations by the state Bureau of Automotive Repair, authorities said.

Frank Lev, owner of Burbank Auto Body at 149 E. Providencia St., was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, officials said. Adan Miranda, owner of Western Auto Glass and Repair at 527 S. Victory Blvd. was arrested on suspicion of failing to keep required records of estimates and invoices and failing to register his business. Both were taken into custody at about 8:30 a.m. Lev came under investigation after a customer complained to the bureau that Lev had been paid by her insurance company to replace damaged parts of her car with new ones, but he instead repaired the damaged parts, said Feliciano Sanchez, a supervisor with the bureau’s San Fernando Valley office.

The Burbank city attorney’s office summoned the men to court in October, Sanchez said. Miranda attended a preliminary hearing but neither man reported to court for trial, so Burbank police arrested them.

Lev is in custody in lieu of $7,500 bail and Miranda is being held in lieu of $8,000 bail, Sanchez said. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, each man could face six months in county jail or a $1,000 fine.