DMV, NYPD investigating Brooklyn auto repair shop accused of holding cars hostage
For more than a year now, the CBS News New York Investigates team has been reporting on a Brooklyn auto repair shop that's been accused of not completing repairs.
Now, both the Department of Motor Vehicles and the New York City Police Department are investigating State to State Automotive on Atlantic Avenue.
Over the last year, customers told CBS News New York it was like the shop was holding their cars hostage. Some did get their cars back after our investigations, but we kept hearing from others trying to recover theirs.
Officers executed a search warrant at State to State in December, and NYPD sources say they removed 14 cars illegally parked outside the shop and eight more from inside the garage.
Auto shop held car hostage for a year, customer says
One of the vehicles found inside the garage belonged to De'Sean Waldburg-Buggs. He said someone crashed into his parked Honda Accord and drove off in late 2024.
Waldburg-Buggs said shortly after he discovered the damage, a man pulled up and offered to tow it to State to State Automotive in Brooklyn for repairs.
According to Waldburg-Buggs, his insurance paid the shop $13,000, but instead of repairs he got months of delays and excuses, even when he personally visited the shop.
"I'm like, 'Hey man, I see the car.' He's like, 'Yo, I'm sorry.' What does sorry do?" he said. "Sorry doesn't explain the fact that I was– I lost two jobs, I had a rental car, had to give that up. It's just so much that I had to deal with and struggle."
Waldburg-Buggs says State to State and its manager Steven Ventura demanded ever-increasing storage fees. Other customers described the same problem. Back in December 2024, State to State customer Sara-Lee Ramsawak told CBS News New York the shop wouldn't release her car even though she said they received full payments.
"Some people told me they had their car in for a couple months. They were shocked when I told them my car was in there for a year," Waldburg-Buggs said. "They were like, 'What!?' I'm like, yeah, my car was in there for a year."
To add insult to injury, Waldburg-Buggs said even though he now has his car back, it's in worse shape than when it was taken into the shop.
"I was lost for words," he said.
Some customers' struggles continue even after shop closes
CBS News New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas returned to the shop last week to find all the signage removed, all the doors locked, and no signs of any workers. Google now lists State to State as permanently closed.
"Oh my goodness. Thank– that's good news," Waldburg-Buggs said.
"I am happy that they outta business," State to State customer Louis Denory said.
Despite the shop's apparent closure, some customers are still dealing with unresolved issues.
Both Denory and customer Amanda Odle are trying to get State to State to pay for parking tickets they got while their cars were supposed to be parked in the garage.
"I don't know who to turn to now, and how do I go about make them pay for those tickets? The money they owed me," Denory said.
Odle, who said she paid the shop $7,000 in the fall, is also still trying to get her car back.
"I called them, and they said my car isn't there. I went to two different precincts, they don't have my car," she said.
This is now at least the third auto repair business to shut down at that Atlantic Avenue location after a slew of complaints, and our investigations found that people with the same last name – Quiles – helped create or manage all three businesses.
We called State to State last week, and the person who answered hung up on us.
Police are not saying much on the record about their investigation, but NYPD sources said they're focused on the tow truck aspect of the operation. The company did not have a license to show up at accident scenes unsolicited in New York City and tow damaged cars away.
