NEW YORK – A Brooklyn man says his car was held hostage by an auto repair shop for more than a year and a half, and it racked up thousands in parking tickets while they held it.
Louis Denory says his Ford Flex was damaged in an accident in April 2023, and it was towed to what was then called A9’s Automotive. The shop’s Instagram page, however, had at the time already been directing people to “follow our new business page,” called State to State Automotive. About two months after Denory’s accident, New York state approved an auto repair license for a new LLC under that name. The name on the shop’s sign later changed, too, but Denory said he still dealt with the same people, and problems.
“I didn’t know who to turn to”
“They would give excuses, talking about ‘Oh, the parts, there was a delay on the parts.’ This and that there, and then the guy talking about he had a death in the family, the owner of it, and nobody knew where the car was,” Denory said.
But the city’s finance department knew. They mailed Denory more than $2,000 in fines for illegal parking near the shop at Atlantic and Nostrand Avenues.
“I didn’t know who to turn to,” Denory said.
In August of 2024, a judge ordered State to State to pay for those tickets, but a man CBS News New York’s Tim McNicholas spoke to and claims to have taken over the shop and towing operation a few months ago says he doesn’t plan to pay.
Denory accompanied McNicholas on a visit to the shop.
“Where’s this guy’s car?” McNicholas asked.
“We don’t have a Ford Flex here,” the man said.
“You don’t know where his car went?” McNicholas asked.
“Then you’re not getting the car back”
In October, Denory said he learned shop workers moved the car to a lot near 86th and Foster. He said he tried to take it back, but the tires were flat, the car wouldn’t start, and a truck blocked the exit.
Court records show the lot owners have been trying to force State to State off their property for at least three months.
“We just want to ask you your side of the story,” McNicholas said.
“You don’t have to ask me nothing,” the man at the shop said. He wouldn’t reveal his name, or much else, but when he walked away, he confronted Denory about storage fees.
“I’m not paying no storage. I don’t care what you’re saying,” Denory said.
“Then you’re not getting the car back,” the man said.
Records show Geico gave the old LLC, A9’s Automotive, $6,000 for repairs, and Geico says someone cashed their check. But state regulators say the company didn’t even have a proper repair shop license at the time of the accident.
Four Better Business Bureau complaints also say A9’s kept cars for months, and Sara-Lee Ramsawak says the new LLC, State to State, is doing the same thing to her.
“Nine months later, I don’t have my car. They won’t release my car even though they received full payment,” she said.
“I’m going to fight for that car”
“I think about that car. And I said, I’m going to fight for that car. Because the man upstairs gave it to me, and I’m going to fight for it,” Denory said.
State regulators said they already hit State to State with one violation notice for failure to issue an invoice on repairs on an Audi Q5.
“I don’t want to do the interview. I just want to promote my business, and just put it on the news,” the man at the shop told McNicholas.
“It’s going to be on there,” McNicholas said.
“I’ll give you $1,000,” the man said.
“It’s going to be on there for free,” McNicholas said.
After McNicholas and Denory left the shop, they went to the lot at 86th and Foster, where someone had somehow moved Denory’s car to the exit. Denory phoned his insurance for a jumpstart, filled up his tires, and drove his car home for the first time in 20 months.
“I really thank you for everything, you and your partner [videographer Dana Riccardi],” Denory told McNicholas. “You have a blessed day, sir.”
Denory says he’s not sure if his car was ever properly fixed. He says he’s now working with the sheriff’s office to try to get those funds for the unpaid parking tickets.
McNicholas also called the former owner of A9’s Automotive and have not heard back.
One customer sued A9’s Automotive for damages, deceptive business practices and conversion and fraud. The lawsuit also claimed the business had changed its name multiple times. That lawsuit has since been dismissed, but in that case, a man named Joel Quiles identified himself as a manager, which is the same last name as Jolene Quiles, who filed the paperwork to form State to State. Records show two people with those names also have both lived at the same address on Long Island. McNicholas has reached out to both Joel and Jolene, but has not heard back.
