Theft at a Repair Shop

**grahamski** · 07-29-2006, 08:42 PM

I will try and make this short...
My uncle works at an auto repair shop , and he had a customer come in for a brake inspection. He did the inspection and told the customer that his brakes were ok for about another 10k miles, he then wrote up th paperwork and continued on to the next customer. About ½ an hour later, the assistant manager came up to him and slipped a $20 dollar bill in his pocket, he asked what is the 20 for and his boss said it was a tip...he question why a tip was given for what he did and the assistant manager had some BS response.

Later that day the police arrived and pulled my uncle and the assistant manager out of the shop, the cops said they stole $$ and wrote each of them a ticket for theft under $400...they also had them cuffed .My uncle pretested , and said he did nothing wrong...the cops brought the guy who had the brake check done ( later it was found out that it was a sting operation) and asked the guy to point to the guy who took the $$$, he pointed to the manager.

The cops released my uncle and gave him the ticket ( which he never signed), and released the assistant manager on duty. The manager told him that he was fired...so my uncle went home ...the next day , the district manager called him and told him they would not be pressing charges, and they wanted him to come in the next day to " talk". He went in and the main store manager said that he could not believe that he was involved in this, and wanted him back, but the district manager said that he " wanted to make an example" and said he was fired.

Now, the cop is calling him and pressuring him to sign the ticket...he even said " I will meet you half way so you can sign it, and if you don't sign it, I will put out a warrant for your arrest".

I told my uncle to ignore the cop calling him, and to call his watch commander and a lawyer. I told him the cop is trying to cover his butt because the ticket was not signed, and that if they were going to issue a warrant, they would have done it already. I also told him to obtain an attorney for wrongful termination.
What are your thoughts on this?. Should he hire an attorney for wrongful termination?
Should he meet the cop top sign the ticket? ( I think that is crazy BTW)
I will be sending a link to this forum to my uncle so he can check it out...Thanks for any insight you folks may have...

**Mr. Knowitall** · 07-30-2006, 07:02 AM

This would be the type of sting operation where the authorities bring in a vehicle which has nothing wrong with it, then have it checked at a shop to see if they recommend repairs? And your father inspected a brake system that was in good repair, telling the customer the brakes were only good for ten miles? And then your father took a cut of the profit from the unnecessary repair?

**grahamski** · 07-30-2006, 09:56 AM

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

This would be the type of sting operation where the authorities bring in a vehicle which has nothing wrong with it, then have it checked at a shop to see if they recommend repairs? And your father inspected a brake system that was in good repair, telling the customer the brakes were only good for ten miles? And then your father took a cut of the profit from the unnecessary repair?

It was a sting operation, My Uncle( not father ) told the customer that the brakes were good for about another 10k ( 10,000 miles ) , not 10 miles, so there was no repair done
My uncle did not take a cut of the " profit", the assistant manager put a 20 dollar bill in his pocket, uncle asked what it was for since he didn't do anything to the car ...the manager told him it was a tip, my uncle then said tip for what? ..the assistant manager gave a BS response ( It was later found out that the assistant manager recieved $80 , and slipped $20 of it into uncles pocket.)
All that doesn't matter anyway, as the company has declined to press charges on my uncle after seeing the sting on film ( he did not do anything wrong)...However, they are pressing charges on the assistant manager.
The problem is the cop who keeps calling and saying my uncle has to sign the ticket!
I told my uncle not to sign ANYTHING, and do not talk to this cop again..call his commander and speak with him. The cop is obviously trying to cover his ass IMHO.
So, I just wanted to see what the legal minds here thought.
Thanks anyway.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 07-30-2006, 11:13 AM

Okay... Your uncle, not father (sorry), told the customer that a perfectly good set of brakes would be good for another 10,000 miles, yet for some reason the customer decided to have the brakes repaired anyway? How did the assistant manager convince these people to get brake work (or was it to pay $100 for work that wasn't performed) if they were told that everything was fine?

The company doesn't have to press charges on anybody. Criminal charges come from the police and prosecutor, not your uncle's employer.