HUNTINGDON COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Huntingdon man is accused of taking money to complete repairs on two vehicles, just to pocket it and keep the vehicles, according to police.

Jason Bailey, 33, is facing felony theft charges for taking $2,500 to work on his Jeep Cherokee and Ford F-150.

Troopers first spoke with the victim on June 13, who related that he paid Bailey $2,500 to do mechanical work and rust repair on both vehicles in March 2023. Charges show the last time the victim spoke to Bailey was on Oct. 2, 2023, when Bailey told him “the truck is coming along great.”

After this interaction, the victim told police he tried multiple times to get in contact with Bailey but never could, according to the affidavit. The victim told police that one time while working in the Huntingdon area, he saw his truck under a tarp at a residence on Fairgrounds Road. His wife reached out to Bailey’s on Facebook messenger, but the next day the truck was gone.

On June 10, a co-worker of the victim let him know he saw his truck at the Rutter’s in Milroy. Charges show the co-worker knew it was his truck based on custom rims, grille and window stickers. He also told him the truck had been spray painted blue, despite originally being red/maroon.

Officers reached out to the Rutters and received access to surveillance footage on June 14. In the footage, the truck can be seen pulling up to the pump and a white man exits the driver’s side to pump gas, according to the criminal complaint. Bailey’s girlfriend can be seen exiting the passenger side and heading inside Rutters.

Troopers were able to positively identify Bailey from the footage and also noted in the charges they could see the truck had a red/maroon front end.

The victim told troopers the values of the vehicles were approximately $11,000 in total.

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Bailey is currently out after posting $50,000 bail through a professional bondsman. He is facing two felony counts of theft by deception, two felony counts of theft by unlawful taking, felony criminal mischief and a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 3.

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