October 2, 2007
By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Anchor/Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A Knoxville custom car dealer 6 News has been investigating for months has now been arrested for theft.
Steve Lawing is the owner of Specialty Autoworks.
6 News first reported in July about people across the country who've sued Lawing, claiming they've been ripped-off.
Since July, two more people have sued Specialty Autoworks and Steve Lawing. That's a dozen lawsuits now from people in nine different states.
Knoxville officers arrested Lawing on September 26 and federal postal inspectors are building a case against him.
Lawing builds custom replicas of classic cars in his Knoxville shop. Alleged victims claim he promises to build cars for them, takes tens of thousands of dollars and never delivers.
One person claims to have waited four years.
But Lawing argues that building the type of cars he does can take that long.
In July, Lawing invited 6 News into his shop where some work was going on. When asked if three to four years is an acceptable wait for his customers, he said, "Well, a given car is in a line with other cars being built. Those cars can also have complications and being a small mom and pop shop, it can cascade down."
Lawing does all his business on the Internet. He doesn't have any local customers.
He's free on a $10,000 bond, awaiting his day in court.
