On Friday, August 16, the Montgomery County Auto Theft Task Force and the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office swooped down on Richard Sisney, owner of Sisney Auto Repair on Loop 494 in Porter. Richard Sisney was taken into custody on a third-degree felony charge of theft in an amount greater than $20,000 but less than $100,000.
On February 2, 2010, Pat Quinn who resides in British Columbia, Canada found a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro displayed for sale on the website known as Racing junk.com. It was offered for sale by Richard Sisney who owns Sisney Auto Repair on Loop 494 in Porter. The vehicle was advertised as Top Sportsman Bickel Built with a 598 engine. It included a Dart Big Block and Sonny Leonard Dart heads. It was listed as mint condition with electronic shifter and bead lock wheels.
After seeing the ad Quinn offered Sisney $46,000 for the vehicle which Sisney accepted with the agreement that Quinn would wire $29,000 to Brenda Sisney’s bank account at the First Bank in Trust of East Texas. Brenda was the wife of Robert Sisney.
Quinn then contacted John Harrison, a motor vehicle appraiser, to inspect the vehicle. After the vehicle was inspected by Harrison and photographed several material discrepancies were found. It was at this point Quinn contacted Sisney for a refund.
Sisney who earlier said the deposit was 100% refundable then told Quinn after he learned of the discrepancies that Quinn already began purchasing the vehicle and his only choice was to fulfill the obligation and pay the remaining amount due.
Quinn hired a civil attorney who was not able to get the deposit returned either.
Montgomery County Auto Theft was contacted and started and investigation. Detective contacted Melvin Bickel, owner of Bickel Brand Race Chassis. The vehicle was advertised as being a Bickel. After reviewing the information Bickel stated that the vehicle in question was not a Bickel built race car. He also stated a large amount of the information in the original ad was false.
Friday morning Sisney appeared in Judge Case’s courtroom and was arrested again after many more victims of Sisney came forward.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Detective has spent countless hours investigating Sisney and his prior complaints over the years. Most of which included in the court papers.
Michael Myers went to Sisney on February 26, 1999 and paid Sisney $30,000 to restore a 1955 Chevrolet Bellaire which Sisney promised to return to showroom condition in six months. When Myers went to pick the vehicle up it was in pieces and off the frame. He was forced to take it to a second mechanic.
In March 2001 Harry Craig asked Sisney to sell a 1986 Chevrolet Sprint for him for $1,000. Later the vehicle was gone and not paid for. A detective assigned to the case back then stated in a report that he contacted Sisney and was shown an invoice for $1,053. He told the detective he had spent 960 hours working on the vehicle but would return the money as Craig was a friend and a customer. Sisney told the detective Craig was mad at him as he wouldn’t let another car pass inspection.
On November 22, 2005 Gary Ball found a 1969 Camaro and a 1966 Chevrolet pickup missing from his barn and reported them stolen. .Detective Neeley discovered Sisney filed a mechanics lien on Balls vehicle on May 6, 2011 and that Sisney stated on the lien it was for $285 worth of work done on Balls vehicle on January 4, 2004, the day Sisney filled out the work order the vehicles were still in Balls possession, and the signature was forged on the invoice.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Detective Neeley verified that the vehicle was set to be shipped to a buyer in Australia by Christian Polazzo. Polazzo told Neeley that in February 2012 he wired $40,000 in cash to Sisney’s part of the agreed price of $75,000 that he and his partner arrived at in order to buy the vehicle they assumed had a clear title. Ball denied taking any vehicles to Sisney’s shop and didn’t even know him. Neeley also discovered the transfer of the title from an individual known only as “Joe King” was done in a fraudulent manner by Sisney to start the process of obtaining a clear title to ship the vehicle overseas.
On November 29, 2006 Danny Fant and his fiancé paid Sisney $2,700 to work on their 1968 Chevelle and another $1,300 on January 30, 2009 to install a new brake system. After the work was not done Fant’s fiancé Nikki Lecompte sued Sisney in JP Court and in April 2010 went to recover their vehicle, that when Sisney told her he required another $1,000 in parts or he would not return the vehicle. Sisney never refunded a cent to them.
On March 29, 2007 Bobby Posinski took a 1957 Chevrolet to Sisney to be refurbished and paid Sisney $37,000. He later found his vehicle in a paint shop in Crosby in very poor condition.
On April 1, 2008 Jay Perez purchased a Camaro from Sisney and had to continually return to the shop to get the vehicle fixed as it wouldn’t run properly. Then on May 15, 2011, Perez paid Sisney $3,200 to install a new engine. When the son of Perez drove the car to Lubbock within a few days and was forced to take the car to a mechanic there. That mechanic informed Perez the engine in the vehicle was in fact not new. When detectives checked the confidential number on the engine they verified it was the same engine as when the vehicle left the factory… Over the period of time from 2010 to 2011 Perez paid Sisney $3,400 for repairs that were not done or done poorly.
On October 25, 2010 Floyd Guillory paid Sisney approximately $1,590 to install eight new injectors on his Chevrolet truck and a new injector pump. Later Guillory verified that six of those injectors were used and in bad condition. His vehicle never ran correctly and Sisney never refunded his money.
On May 7, 2012 Diane Jones went to Sisney Automotive and paid $8,500 for a 1949 Ford. She wrote the check to Brenda Sisney at Richard Sisney’s request. Jones was never given the title to the vehicle. Jones noticed the signatures on the title transfer did not match and Sisney lied numerous times to her on who the owner actually was. At one point he told Jones the owner was Glen Brady who Jones discovered had been deceased over a decade. Sisney also told Joes, “I have friends in high places, so you better watch your step”.
After Sisney’s arrest on August 16, 2013 and the plea of Detective Neeley and Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer to the general public to come forward if they had been victims.
Since that time Detective Neeley has taken at least twelve complaints from area citizens.
One from Gary Dugat who on June 1, 1990 bought a 1968 Chevelle from Sisney for $4,500 and was told the title was in a lock-box at the bank. Sisney then left and did not return. Again the next day Dugat confronted Sisney who got in his truck and drove off. Dugat discovered the vehicle was owned by an 81-year-old woman.
The list continues and involves thousands of dollars.
Prosecutor Rob Freyer is once again asking the public to come forward if they had any ill dealings with Sisney.
Sisney remains in the Montgomery County Jail on a charge of Aggregate Theft.
Freyer said that combining these cases Sisney who is currently on a $1 million bond is looking at 5 to 99 years behind bars for ripping off the good people of Montgomery County.
They are asking anyone who has been taken advantage of by Richard Sisney or Sisney Automotive to contact Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Detective Neeley at 936-538-7736
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU1FI-zbzL4&feature=youtu.be
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