Guy Ran Away without Paying for Auto Repair

Posting for my husband. Location: Indiana

“Seeking some advise from the community on how to handle a situation. I’m a backyard mechanic, which is another way of saying I dont have a registered business or own an autoshop, but I do mechanic works out of my garage at home. I do specialty works on German cars (engine repairs and rebuilds). I have developed a bit of a reputation cause my prices are significantly lower than any shop would charge for equivalent work, and so I get customers from out of state, mostly from the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.

Recently a I had a customer reach out to me for an engine repair job on his car. He had taken it to some shop to change out the fuel injector and one of them broke off and was stuck in the engine, they did what they could to extract it but ended doing more damage. When he brought it, lots of things were fucked up but i agreed to repair it anyway. We discussed all the details and I took on the job. I kept finding more things wrong with it as I went along (metal shavings in oil, scored cylinder walls, etc.). I advised the engine would need a complete overhaul, explained everything and he approved the work.

Fast forward a couple of months, I got it all done, called him up to come pay and pick up his car, all well and good. When he showed up, we exchanged pleasantries, talked a bit. He requested to take the car on a test drive, and i agreed, cause why not right? He went on the test drive and never came back. This man ran away without paying me, I’ve been stiffed of several thousands. I dont know how I can pursue this legally, or if I even have a recourse to pursue it. Is there a crime I can press charges for or is this a purely civil matter that I’ll have to go to court for?

For a little extra context, when he showed up, he was with his wife and child. So when he went on the drive, the wife and child stayed back, just chilling in their car. I was doing some other work in the garage so it was all good, we were all waiting for this man to come back. I had told him his battery was junk was I lent him a good battery out of my car so he could test drive the car, but he’d have to buy a new battery before he leaves. Twenty minutes after he left, he video calls his wife and she brings her phone to me to tell me that he’d run out of gas and was wondering is I had a portable gas container to bring him some. Again, nothing unusual about that request. So I get in my car and drive off to where he said he was. I get there, I dont see him. I call, he doesn’t answer. That’s when I started to feel I’d been stiffed. I quickly turn around to head back home only to find the wife and kid had varnished. So these two had pulled off a heist, and left me there looking stupid. Not sure whether to laugh or cry 😕”