A Butler County auto repair shop owner has been arrested and faces charges for taking a customer's car for repairs and using it.

The shop, Oilology, is right off Route 228 in Cranberry Township. The owner and mechanic, Keith Smith, now faces charges after allegedly taking in a customer's vehicle to fix, failing to make the repairs over several months, and also lending it out to others during that time.

According to the criminal complaint, the customer dropped off his 2011 Suzuki for repairs in June. Police say Smith, who has eight prior convictions for unauthorized use of vehicles, claimed he was working on it.

"I did expect him to do this as a friend of mine. That's where the trust was, and I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt, hoping he might have changed last time, but he didn't," said the man who filed the complaint to the police, who wished to remain anonymous.

Police say the two exchanged almost 400 messages, with Smith sending photos and receipts claiming the car was being worked on, but those updates weren't real.

"Every time, I kept saying, 'Can you test my car?' He said, 'Yeah, sorry, I forgot, I'll do it today," the man alleged.

The red flag came when the customer received an E-ZPass bill for a trip to Somerset County that he never made.

"I got a bill from E-ZPass. I called them, they looked up my plate, and found a whole bunch of history on my car that I literally just bought three or four days prior to bringing it to him, the man said.

Traffic cameras and turnpike records showed the car traveling in Butler and Allegheny counties with more than 4,700 unauthorized miles.

When the owner checked on the car, he noticed it was missing at times, and when it was finally returned, police say it had a broken windshield, dents, missing items, and mechanical issues, with more than $3,700 in damages.

"Knowing how the past was, what he continues to do to people, and what he did to me, it just needs to end."

Smith now faces several charges, including unauthorized use of a vehicle, deceptive business practices, and more.