12 Investigates: Man arrested after intentional car damage at oil change shop

By Serra Sowers

Click here for updates on this story

    MOCKSVILLE, North Carolina (WXII) — A Mocksville man is accused of intentionally damaging a woman’s car at a popular oil change shop.

What was supposed to be a simple oil change at Take 5 in Mocksville turned into a costly situation.

Jess Jones told 12 Investigates she had visited the service center several times for oil changes before. Earlier this month, Jones learned a mechanic intentionally damaged her car, and now she’s down $1,500 in repairs.

“As a woman, you put your trust in these mechanics because that’s all we have sometimes,” said Jones.

She said she waited for about 30 minutes for her oil change, but when she drove away, she noticed something wasn’t quite right.

“Within like five minutes, I have multiple lights on in my vehicle telling me to put it in park, check my engine,” she said.

Jones went back to Take 5 to talk with managers, explaining she didn’t have issues prior to her oil change. She put in a claim with the company’s corporate office, and within an hour, the Davie County sheriff’s office called her, asking if she wanted to press charges.

“From what the sheriff stated, he intentionally went to a table and got wire cutters and cut wires on my vehicle,” Jones said. “So now I’m looking at $1,500 worth of repairs because I don’t know what he was doing under my vehicle for about 25 minutes.”

Mark Sanz, who did the work on Jones’ car, is charged with injury to personal property after allegedly using a wire cutter on the O2 sensor of her car. The sheriff’s office told 12 Investigates that Sanz was arrested in Alexander County and later posted his $1,000 bond.

Jones is going through court proceedings now, but is still questioning why this incident happened in the first place.

“To find out that’s what happened, is that the integrity of the business?” Jones said. “I really also want to know, was I the only one that this happened to?”

We asked Take 5 for a statement of the incident, and they sent us this:

“At Take 5 Oil Change, the safety and satisfaction of our customers are our top priorities. We are aware of the recent incident involving an employee who damaged a customer’s vehicle. After a thorough internal review, we took immediate action and the employee involved is no longer with the company.

This behavior does not reflect the values or standards we uphold. We are committed to providing fast, friendly, and reliable service, and we deeply regret that this situation occurred. We will continue to reinforce our training and operational protocols to ensure that every customer receives the level of care and professionalism they deserve.”

Jones said she has been in a rental car for two weeks, and waiting for repairs on her car to be finished at the dealership. Her advice to others is to have work checked by a second person if they feel something is wrong with their car.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.