For the fourth time in nearly 11 years a customer has sued Mad Dog Service Inc., Port Chester, and mechanic Jon Lovallo to get a car back.
Paul DeRose, of Darien, Connecticut accused Lovallo and Mad Dog of fraud, in a complaint filed on Jan. 22 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Defendants’ conduct was not an isolated incident,” the complaint states. They “have engaged in a recurring pattern of substantially identical conduct involving prolonged retention of customer vehicles, unauthorized charges, and refusal to release vehicles.”
In January 2025, DeRose brought in a 2013 Jeep Wrangler for work on the suspension, wheels, tires, lighting and accessories. He was given a written estimate for parts, totaling $11,310, according to the complaint, but no quote for labor. He paid $12,730.
For months, DeRose says, Lovallo refused to respond to requests for updates. This past September, eight months after the Jeep was delivered to the shop, DeRose showed up with a tow truck to retrieve his car.
But Lovallo allegedly refused to release the Jeep unless he was paid $7,000.
DeRose called Port Chester police, the complaint states, and then Lovallo generated an invoice that included charges for 29 hours of labor and additional parts.
DeRose claims that this was the first time he had seen the additional charges and that he had never approved them. Lovallo, according to the complaint, claimed that DeRose had approved the additional work by phone calls, emails or text messages but was unable to produce any written authorizations.
DeRose argues that Lovallo and Mad Dog are illegally “attempting to condition release of the vehicle on payment of disputed and unauthorized charges.”
The complaint cites lawsuits filed in 2015, 2020 and 2024 alleging similar conduct and resulting in default judgments against Lovallo and Mad Dog. A Rye couple, for instance, said they paid $66,125 to restore a 1974 Land Cruiser but two years after the target completion date the work was not done.
Meanwhile, DeRose argues, he has to pay for alternative transportation while the Jeep deteriorates in value, “unfinished and unusable.”
DeRose accused Lovallo and Mad Dog of conversion, breach of contract, fraud, deceptive business practices and unjust enrichment. He is demanding the immediate return of the Jeep and three times the amount of actual monetary damages.
Lovallo did not reply to a message asking for his side of the story.
DeRose is represented by Mamaroneck attorney A. Robert Dawes.
