A West Newton auto shop is facing criminal charges after employees falsely passed multiple vehicles for inspection. Our news partners at the Trib said the Pennsylvania State Police visited Martinelli Auto Service in August for an audit and found the auto shop had placed new inspection stickers on “two vehicles that would not have passed inspection.” One of the vehicles, according to court documents referenced by the Trib, reportedly had a hole in the frame and balding studded tires, which officials said would prevent the vehicle from passing inspection. PennDOT officials had contacted state police a month prior, the Trib said, with suspicions that the shop was “illegally distributing inspection and emission stickers.”State officials then conducted a surveillance operation on Aug. 1, the Trib said, where officials observed “five cars within an hour had old stickers replaced with new ones,” with no thorough inspection taking place. The Trib said court documents outlined some inspections were as quick as 16 minutes. The news outlet further reported officials then contacted the vehicles’ owners, with some refusing to discuss the situation and others stating they had new clue their vehicle wasn’t inspected. The auto shop is facing 11 misdemeanor charges along with 11 counts of failing to meet inspection sticker requirements, the Trib said. No official court date has been set.
A West Newton auto shop is facing criminal charges after employees falsely passed multiple vehicles for inspection.
Our news partners at the Trib said the Pennsylvania State Police visited Martinelli Auto Service in August for an audit and found the auto shop had placed new inspection stickers on “two vehicles that would not have passed inspection.”
One of the vehicles, according to court documents referenced by the Trib, reportedly had a hole in the frame and balding studded tires, which officials said would prevent the vehicle from passing inspection.
PennDOT officials had contacted state police a month prior, the Trib said, with suspicions that the shop was “illegally distributing inspection and emission stickers.”
State officials then conducted a surveillance operation on Aug. 1, the Trib said, where officials observed “five cars within an hour had old stickers replaced with new ones,” with no thorough inspection taking place.
The Trib said court documents outlined some inspections were as quick as 16 minutes. The news outlet further reported officials then contacted the vehicles’ owners, with some refusing to discuss the situation and others stating they had new clue their vehicle wasn’t inspected.
The auto shop is facing 11 misdemeanor charges along with 11 counts of failing to meet inspection sticker requirements, the Trib said.
No official court date has been set.
