Tampa Police arrested a man they say admitted to changing the odometers on two different cars.
21-year-old Kemchand Sahadeo, the manager at S&S Auto Repair and Sales, was booked into jail Wednesday. Thursday morning, he was already back to work at the shop on North 15th Street and denied ever being arrested.
"You got the wrong person," Sahadeo said while standing on the sidewalk outside of the business.
"That's him," Donald Hughes, who purchased a vehicle from Sahadeo, said while looking at a picture of the man.
In fact, Hughes is still driving the car he says has a false reading odometer.
Hughes agreed to purchase the 2004 Nissan Altima for about $3,200 cash last month. He found the car advertised on the website OfferUp. Right now, the odometer reads about 107,000 miles. Hughes says it wasn't until he registered the car on CarFax, a few weeks later, that he realized the odometer reading was off by more than 70,000 miles.
"It showed that the car was actually 180,000 miles," he said.
Hughes is originally from Antigua. Before moving to Tampa, he lived in New York City and never needed a vehicle. This was the first time he purchased a car.
"He scammed me," he said.
Police started investigating Sahadeo after Hughes came forward. Police reports show they found evidence of more tampering when they searched the business.
Hughes says Sahadeo is refusing to take the vehicle back and give him a refund.
