Repair Shop Owner Convicted of Theft
Donald Wachter, an Agoura Hills man whose father was charged and his brother convicted in separate auto repair scams in the past, has been convicted of grand theft in an auto repair swindle of his own, City Atty. James Hahn said.
Wachter, the operator of Mr. Don’s Transmission shop in Van Nuys, was found guilty Monday after a six-day trial in the Los Angeles Municipal Court’s Metropolitan Branch.
He faces a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine when he is sentenced Oct. 22.
Wachter was investigated by the state Bureau of Automotive Repair after the agency received two complaints from customers last year, officials said.
A Calabasas woman alleged that Wachter performed unauthorized work on her 1993 Mazda Protege and then refused to return the car until she paid $3,000. A Reseda man complained that Wachter charged him for a totally rebuilt transmission, when in fact the transmission was used, not rebuilt.
Deputy City Atty. Mark Lambert said that Wachter even cheated customers who had extensive car experience. The Reseda customer was a longtime mechanic and Wachter knew his background, Lambert said.
“It’s really amazing that he would have the audacity to rip off someone with experience,” Lambert said. “It only leaves your mind wondering what he would do with someone who had no knowledge about auto repair.”
Wachter was convicted on the strength of the Reseda man’s complaint because prosecutors could not locate the Calabasas woman to testify, Lambert said.
The defendant’s brother, Robert Wachter, was convicted in 1996 of a swindle at another transmission shop, ATCO Transmission in North Hollywood. He was ordered to pay $1,080 in fines and costs and placed on probation after pleading no contest to making false and misleading statements. Last year, officials said, he was caught running another scam at the same shop and sentenced to pay $2,700 in fines and costs.
The Wachters’ father, Paul, who owned Dr. Transmission in North Hollywood, was also charged in a 1995 auto repair scam. Wachter died before he could be tried, Lambert said.
