CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We have a new Troubleshooters segment about a story we first reported last year.
A father and son took their classic car to a local repair shop to be restored more than a year ago.
Now, almost 2 years later, not only is the restoration not complete, but it appears the car isn't even at the shop anymore.
The Troubleshooters have repeatedly contacted the car owner, his attorney, the judge, and the mechanic to get this resolved.
Now the judge has issued an arrest warrant for the mechanic.
It's a 1967 Classic Mustang.
Pretty sweet lookin' no doubt. It had been sitting in Mario Rodriguez's garage for some time until he and his son Gerardo decided it was time to get it running again.
So in January 2022, Gerardo took it to Gabriel Morin at Make Ready Plus Services on Staples to have the work done. "Why did you choose him ?" we asked. "We called around and he said he could get the job done for $20,000.00," Rodriguez told us.
Rodriguez's dad also told us they took it Morin because he told them he knew what he was doing when it came to working on Mustangs. "The way he spoke. He said he's worked on a lot of old cars. Mustangs. Especially Mustangs. And apparently, he didn't."
The Troubleshooters went to Make Ready and spoke with Morin, who declined to be interviewed on camera., but we did see the car sitting in his shop.
Morin did acknowledge that Rodriguez had already paid him $20,000, but he also insisted they had a verbal agreement for much more than that for the work.
But when we went back to the shop at Staples just a few weeks ago, Morin wouldn't tell us where the car was.
Since our story about this car first aired in October 2022, the Troubleshooters have been in consistent contact with the Rodriguezes, their attorney Alex Hernandez, Morin, Judge Mark Woerner, and the Nueces County Sheriff's Office trying to get this resolved.
"I did authorize the Sheriff to cut any locks and go through any doors they needed to go through," Woerner told us. "And they could do that if it's necessary to obtain the vehicle. Apparently, when they did that, there was no vehicle to be found on the premises."
Finally, on Tuesday, a hearing in the case before Judge Woerner.
The Rodriguezes were there, but Gabriel Morin was not. Nor was anybody representing him.
After a brief discussion, the judge issued a Judgement of Contempt and Order of Commitment. In other words, an arrest warrant for Gabriel Morin.
"I'm going to find Mr Morin in contempt for Make Ready Plus Services failure to return the vehicle or allow it to be seized as per my order. He will be incarcerated and basically held in jail until he complies with the order of the court."
The Rodriguezes just want their classic vehicle back, so they can get it repaired and back crusin' on the road.
We'll be sure to let you know what happens next.
