Reseda : Post-Quake Case Against Shop Settled
The 41-year-old owner of a Reseda glass shop has pleaded no contest to a charge of false advertising, but six earlier charges of price-gouging after the Northridge earthquake were dropped.
John Joseph Occhiuto of Granada Hills, owner of Tampa Glass, was placed on probation for three years and must pay a $2,350 fine that includes a $1,000 donation to an American Red Cross earthquake relief fund.
The single count of making false and misleading statements concerned a yellow pages ad that failed to say a service offered by Tampa Glass was actually provided by a subcontractor.
The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs investigated the shop after six customers complained that Occhiuto had overcharged them for boarding up broken windows with plywood after the Northridge earthquake, said Deputy City Atty. P. Greg Parham.
Tampa Glass’ prices for such work were $25 to $75 higher after the quake, Parham said. “It was a matter of trying to marshal together invoices from before the earthquake. Basically, all we needed to do was prove an increase of more than 10%.”
Price-gouging charges were dropped after the defense presented evidence that Occhiuto had incurred additional expenses, which legally allows a business owner to raise prices.
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