Auto Mechanic Sentenced for Cheating Customers
An auto mechanic who was a fugitive for two months has been sentenced to 50 days in jail and ordered to pay $5,245 in restitution for cheating customers, the city attorney’s office has announced.
Alan E. Wexler, 42, pleaded no contest in Municipal Court to one count each of grand theft and operating an unlicensed auto repair business stemming, in part, from a sting operation conducted by agents for the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.
The state initiated its sting operation after the Automobile Club of Southern California complained that Wexler had cheated one of its customers on a car accident repair estimated at $2,698 by his former business, the Auto Repair Shop at 10967 Venice Blvd.
The insurance firm accused Wexler of doing only half of the estimated work but then forging the customer’s signature on a two-party check to collect the full amount.
As a result of the complaint, the state agents arranged a sting operation in January in which they brought a car with a defective transmission throttle valve cable was brought to Wexler’s shop for repairs. He allegedly charged $80 for a new cable, but tried unsuccessfully to fix the old one, said Deputy City Atty. Mark Lambert.
The city attorney’s office charged Wexler on July 1 but BAR agents found his shop closed and his home abandoned when they went to serve the arrest warrant, Lambert said. He was a fugitive until Sept. 1, when investigators tracked him down to a new job and took him into custody, he added.
In addition to the jail time and fine, Wexler--who entered his plea Monday--was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to notify state officials of the name and address of any repair facility he owns, operates or is employed by, Lambert said.
