Lenoir City mechanic given jail time for failing to return car to owner

LENOIR CITY (WATE) – A car mechanic who has been the subject of several WATE 6 On Your Side investigations has been arrested for failing to return a car to its owner.

Robert Berry, 52, operates Eurohaus Motorsports in Lenoir City. In November 2015, Micheal Ritter said he had been waiting since January 2012 for Berry to fix his 1988 Porsche 944, which he paid Berry $12,000 to do. Berry said he had the car and was going to fix it, but never did.

Last month, a judge ordered him to fix it, but he didn’t follow the judge’s instructions. Berry was sentenced last week to 10 days in the Knox County jail for not fixing the car or returning the money.

Ritter says after court, he picked up the car at Berry’s garage in Lenoir City, but the car had no motor in it. WATE 6 On Your Side will continue to follow the story.

Berry pleaded guilty last year to theft and sales tax evasion after the Department of Revenue said he failed to remit state sales tax from January 2011 through January 2013. He was ordered to pay $23,823.19 and was placed on probation for four years.

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1/11/17