ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County woman is on a mission to shut down what she calls an illegal mechanic's shop.
Channel 9’s Steve Barrett heard her complaint to county commissioners Tuesday.
Barrett went to find the mechanic, who allegedly set up shop in the Winn Dixie parking lot on Silver Star Road in Pine Hills.
The mechanic wasn’t there, but there was evidence of his car repair work, with oil, chemicals and small parts left behind from automobiles.
Patricia Rumph took photos over the course of a couple weeks of the alleged operation. The photos included one of a man she said goes by the name of "Dreads."
“He does a full service. He changes tires, he does oil changes and he makes other repairs. That’s bringing a negative environment to the area,” she said.
The makeshift auto shop is outside an Auto Zone store where employees said they knew of Dreads.
Barrett contacted Dreads, who said over the phone that he doesn’t run a business, but fixes a lot of cars.
“He needs to be paying taxes. Just like I pay taxes and these other businesses do this properly, he needs to be doing this properly,” said Rumph.
Dreads said he isn’t paying the county taxes on services and isn’t the only mechanic operating this way.
Rumph said she hopes her pictures and message to commissioners prompts action.
“I have no problem with him being an entrepreneur, but he needs to be doing this the right way,” she said.
The mayor directed some county officials to make sure they keep an eye on what’s going on and to send code enforcement staff to talk to the mechanic.
Rumph said she has received an email from the county about the matter.