If you were planning on having Donnie Callaway work on your Ferrari, it might be time to come up with a backup plan.
The California-based mechanic who’s gained renown in auto circles for his work on vintage Prancing Horses and other Italian sports cars was arrested in Arizona earlier this month, reports Bloomberg. The 60-year-old is facing charges of theft, trafficking stolen property, forgery, and fraud.
Callaway was booked in Lower Buckeye Jail in Maricopa County on Monday, April 1. The newswire reports that the mechanic was ensnared in a “sting operation” set up by an unnamed collector who had come to suspect that Callaway did not rightfully own the Ferrari Daytona and 512BB that he was attempting to sell. He is being held on $400,000 cash bond. His arraignment is set for April 17, with his trial scheduled to start on Aug. 14.
Callaway’s arrest and detainment will likely come as a shock to U.S. Ferrari aficionados familiar with his work. The mechanic, who works and lives out of an airplane hangar north of Los Angeles in Lancaster, California, has become a community celebrity in recent years thanks, in part, to the endorsements of high-profile gearheads like Jay Leno and Matt Farah. His extensive social media posting of the cars he works on, and the lifestyle his success has brought him, has also helped boost his profile.
“His work is beyond reproach,” Farah told Bloomberg earlier this month. “He gave me a fair rate for excellent-quality work.”
Leno and Farah may have had good experiences dealing with Callaway, but there are also several Ferrari lovers who didn’t. The mechanic was accused of overcharging some clients even before his arrest. An anonymous Instagram account that calls Callaway a “swindler” was set up earlier this month to share his mugshot and case details.
This isn’t Callway’s first experience with the court or legal systems either. He has been charged with multiple instances of theft and fraud over the decades, and has multiple criminal convictions dating back to 2001, according to Bloomberg. He’s also currently the subject of multiple lawsuits, including one in which he is accused of trying to sell a Ferrari Monza that didn’t belong to him and another that accuses him of unfair business practices, breach of contract, and fraud.
