Sometimes criminals do things that make you wonder, How did they plan to get away with that!? A well-known Ferrari mechanic from Arizona was just arrested for attempting to resell a classic Ferrari Daytona and Ferrari 512BB that didn’t belong to him. That said, there is one situation in which a mechanic can seize your car and sell it: if you refuse to pay them.

Donnie Callaway is one of the foremost vintage Ferrari mechanics around. His social media is full of beautiful pictures of old Italian classics he works on. And he’s even appeared on Jay Leno’s Garage and in Road & Track as an expert. But he’s pretty far from Pebble Beach right now. He’s in the Maricopa County Jail with a $400,000 bail.

This arrest is the culmination of an August 2023 lawsuit by an Arthur Teerlynck. He claims that Callaway stole a 1973 Ferrari Daytona, 1961 Maserati 3500 Spyder Vignale, 1968 Ferrari 328, and 1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur. That’s well over a million dollars worth of cars!

How did Callaway pull a heist like that off? Well it looks like Teerlynck was putting a lot of trust in the mechanic. He also hired him as a sort of broker, finding used classics for the investor to purchase. Then he was inspecting them and recommending the work his client hire him to do.

The lawsuit alleges Callaway was seriously abusing this role. For example, he convinced Teerlynck to have over $1 million in paint and engine work done to his two Ferraris. That may be more than those two cars are worth. Worse, he didn’t even have the license legally required to work as an automotive repair mechanic.

Callaway went over schedule and apparently when Teerlynck confronted him, Callaway tried to take the cars. He told the shipping company that had transported the cars that he was the owner so they would release the titles to him, then began to sell off Teerlynck’s collection. How? He put a lien on the cars, claiming Teerlynck was refusing to pay. And that’s a legal tactic mechanics can use. But according to the lawsuit Teerlynck had paid all his invoices.

It helped Callaway’s con that Teerlynck was in California. Callaway even hid the cars and dodged Teerlynck for three years. But the law finally caught up with Callaway. The Arizona Vehicle Theft Task Force and Los Angeles Sheriff have officially listed the above cars as stolen.

“Don files for a mechanic lien on the Ferrari’s [sic] in California without Arthur’s knowledge even though Arthur has paid for all the invoices agreed upon…Don then sells the Maserati from under Arthur without his consent to someone out of Pennsylvania and the next day Don purchases a plane and registers it in his name.”

Police statement in Teerlynck’s lawsuit

That’s right. Callaway ran out and got himself an airplane. And that’s not even the worst part. The lawsuit claims that Callaway sabotaged a Ferrari Testarossa in Teerlynck’s garage, causing the engine to fail. Then he went on social media and bragged about what he’d done.

Next, read about a stolen Plymouth Barracuda drag car that found its way home for a tearful reunion, or learn about a stolen Ferrari that popped up in Japan in the video below: