Owner of Cranberry Township mechanic shop headed to trial for second set of charges

The owner of a Cranberry mechanic shop is headed to trial on four cases brought against him in the last two weeks.

Keith Smith, the owner of Oilology, was brought to court Friday morning from the Butler County Jail, where he’s been since he was arrested on November 21.

That arrest came after a man said his car was never fixed after months of excuses from Smith, only to learn his car had been given to another customer as a loaner while her car was in the shop.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man says Butler County auto repair shop owner loaned his car to customers, despite previous charges

Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek was the only television news reporter in the courtroom and asked Smith about those allegations.

Havranek: “Did you know what you were doing was wrong?”

Smith: “Absolutely not.”

The car’s owner found out his car had been given to another customer as a loaner after he got a bill from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In court on Friday, police said a woman was driving the car to and from Somerset for four weeks.

The victim said there were an additional 5,000 miles put on his car while it was at Oilology.

Havranek: “Did you loan out other customers’ vehicles to customers who had cars in your shop?”

Smith: “No comment.”

The woman who said she was loaned that car also filed charges against Smith this week. She said she took her car there in July, and after months of having it, Smith didn’t make any of the needed repairs. That’s when Smith loaned her another customer’s car.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> 19 additional charges filed against local mechanic accused of using customers’ vehicles as loaners

Another woman had the same complaints about work not being done in a timely manner and filed charges this week in a third case.

Court documents show a fourth case where a family purchased a car from Smith, who promised repairs to pass inspection and emissions, but never made the repairs. Now, that family is out thousands of additional dollars. Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek spoke to her on Wednesday. She asked to remain anonymous.

“Oh my god, it’s absolutely frustrating,” she said. “He doesn’t answer my texts, doesn’t answer phone calls, and when he does, it’s ‘Oh I’m working on it,’ or ‘Oh I have COVID’ or ‘Oh I’ve got this,’ I mean, it was excuse after excuse.”

The judge is allowing Smith out on bond. He won’t be released from jail until after a hearing on December 19 for violating his probation for a conviction on similar charges going back to 2023.

The judge said Smith will have to wear a monitor and is not allowed to conduct any business, and he’s not allowed on the property.

A sign on the door shows Oilology is closing. The landlord tells Channel 11 he is selling the property to Meijer, a new grocery store moving into Cranberry.

Police said they are continuing to work through more complaints that are being filed against Smith. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said it also has one complaint filed with it.

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