Wood County mechanic shop owners arrested for vehicle theft

WOOD COUNTY – The owners of a mechanic shop in Wood County have been arrested for theft after failing to return customers’ cars after claiming to repair them. According to our news partner KETK, the Wood County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve gotten a number of complaints since Feb. 2025 from former customers of Vintage Iron Hot Rods LLC in Yantis. The customers claimed owners, Anthony Eric Gagnon and Lynn Anne Bess, would not return their vehicles after the shop had possession of them for several months.

The sheriff’s office heard from a total of 16 victims, who all agreed to let the owners of the shop work on their vehicle and would either pay upfront or make arraigned payments. Officials said once customers tried to get their vehicles back, they stated that Gagnon would not answer their calls and prohibited them from returning to the property. Victims were then forced to resort to legal action to obtain their vehicles. Officers also said that, victims said after retrieving their vehicles, some learned the shop had not performed did the repairs that they had paid for.

Further investigation revealed that Bess and Gagnon defrauded their victims of $91,000. Bess and Gagnon were arrested for theft and were booked into the Wood County Jail on Thursday. Both of their bonds have been set at $150,000.