Dealer called the police after buyer refused to tear up contract and sign another.

A Virginia man went to a Chevrolet
dealership to buy a new SUV but ended up in jail when a sales
representative sold him a vehicle for the wrong price, and then accused
him of stealing it.Danny
Sawyer, 40, spent four hours behind bars after purchasing a 2012
Chevrolet Traverse from Priority Chevrolet in Chesapeake in May.
According
to a pair of lawsuit filed recently by the Virginia resident, the
dealership’s staff sold him the SUV for $5,600 less than they should
have, and then informed the buyer that he must sign a new contract for
the correct amount.



When Sawyer refused, the suits
allege, a dealership employee called police and had him arrested after
claiming that he had stolen the SUV.
Dennis
Ellmer, president of Priority Chevrolet, had issued apologies to
Sawyer, saying that he never should have been incarcerated.
In
addition to his mea culpa, Ellmer, who manages all 11 dealerships in
the Priority Auto Group, also offered to let Sawyer have the SUV at the
lower price, but the 40-year-old said it is too late for that, according
to the Virginian-Pilot.Sawyer, who works as a registered
nurse, filed two lawsuits seeking a total of $2.2million, plus attorney
fees, against the Chesapeake dealership, accusing the business of
malicious prosecution, slander, defamation and abuse of process.
An employee at Priority Chevrolet declined to comment on the lawsuits when reached on Wednesday.

According to the filings, Sawyer
originally bought a black Chevy Traverse on May 7 after trading in his
2008 Saturn Vue, but had a change of heart and decided to exchange the
vehicle for a blue model the following day.

Sales manager Wib Davenport approved
the substitution allegedly without mentioning that the blue Traverse
will cost additional $5,600 – a claim that has been disputed by the
dealership.
In the
end, Sawyer signed a final contract for a little over $34,000 while the
actual asking price of the vehicle was listed as $39,000.
A
week later, Sawyer returned from a trip to find dozens of voicemail
messages from the dealership informing him that that a mistake had been
made and asking him to come in and sign a new contract for the higher
price.
Sawyer’s
lawsuits allege that the buyer refused, although the dealership insists
that he orally agreed to pay the difference, but then failed to show up
to sign the papers.
On
June 15, Sawyer was arrested by three police officers in his front yard
after a manager at the dealership accused him of stealing the SUV.Four
hours later, Sawyer was released on bond, and in late August, the
Commonwealth of Virginia dropped all charges against him after finding
insufficient evidence to pursue the case.In later September, Ellmer apologized to the aggrieved customer, saying that his staff made a mistake by going to the police.


‘This shouldn't have happened,’ he said.

Rebecca
Colaw, Sawyer's attorney, said she appreciates that Ellmer is taking
responsibility for what happened, but said that ‘sorry’ is just not
enough. Source