Corvette owner sues over 11,000-mile ride by repair shop employee

HOUSTON, March 6 (UPI) -- A man claims in Harris County, Texas, court a car repair shop employee drove his 1984 Corvette 11,000 miles before abandoning it.

Tim Paisley sued Frank Coleman, proprietor of Frank's Vettes, claiming Paisley brought his car in for work to its interior in the spring of 2012, and later learned a shop employee, Marco Ruiz, used the car as his personal transportation.

Paisley found the car in the summer of 2012, abandoned at a home, the complaint states.

Paisley added he received nothing for the $3,000 he paid the shop employee, and claims he paid $6,000 on an insurance deductible and repairs to the car after he recovered it. Paisley is suing for breach of contract, fraud and conversion, Courthouse News Service reported.

Coleman said Ruiz is not an employee of his business.

"He doesn't really work for me. He just used to clean cars for me," Coleman said.

Paisley said in the lawsuit Coleman cashed his check, written to Ruiz, which reinforced that "Ruiz was in fact employed by Frank's Vettes."