Questions about the ownership of a 1974 Chevy Nova resulted in a Jackson Township man being charged after the car's owner saw someone else driving it in Mercer six years after she took it to his garage.

Douglas L. Baun, 42, of 445 S. Foster Road, was charged Dec. 15 by state police with two counts of theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy and fraudulent removal.

According to the police affidavit:

A Mercer-area woman gave Baun $1,100 to recondition the car in 1997. Baun, who operates Baun's Reconditioning in Jackson Township, told police he repaired the body of the vehicle, pounded out a quarter panel, repaired a bullet hole, and replaced fenders and a vinyl roof and had the car painted. The work cost him about $1,550, he said.

Baun said he asked for more money to complete the reconditioning job, which he said would cost a total of $2,250. Police said the woman told them she didn't see any work being done on her car when she stopped at Baun's shop. She said she didn't care how long it took to do the work and would give Baun more money when she saw some progress on the car.

Police said Dennis Lingenfelter, Mercer, saw the car sitting outside the shop and offered to buy it from Baun for $500, thinking it was a junk car he could fix up. He bought the car at the end of January 2002, telling police that Baun told him the car was abandoned by its owner.

Lingenfelter told police the car looked like it had been re-painted but there was no interior in the car, the tires were flat and it had no bumpers. He said Baun gave him a vinyl roof and bumpers as part of the deal.

Sometime between April and August 2002, Lingenfelter returned the car to Baun because he said Baun told him he was having trouble with the car's former owner who wanted it back.

The car's owner told police she saw someone driving the Nova in Mercer in 2002.

After August 2002, Baun told Lingenfelter he could take the car back because Baun had not heard from the car's owner. Lingenfelter's attorney advised him he could take the car back since he had a title for it.

Lingenfelter was able to get a title for the car through an out-of-state title agency in 2002. He said he called PennDOT and they did not have any record of a title for the car and told him where he could get a title for it.

In March 2003, a PennDOT spokesperson told police the vehicle already had an active title. Lingenfelter sold the car to a Grove City man in March, police said.

In June, the car's owner filed a seven page complaint with police, saying the Nova was hers and she periodically checked on it at Baun's garage.

All charges against Braun were waived to court Dec. 18. He is out on $5,000 bond.