Nearly two dozen customer vehicles turned up abandoned at a storage lot in Fernandina Beach after the owner of All Pro Automotive was arrested on out-of-county warrants, leaving car owners scrambling to figure out where their vehicles went and how to get them back. Sixty-eight-year-old Michael Jacobsen, the shop's owner, was taken into custody on Aug. 31 in Fernandina Beach.
Jacobsen is charged with three counts of failure to appear in Putnam County, according to Action News Jax. Under Florida law, a willful failure to appear in court after being released on bail or recognizance is its own criminal charge, one that can be filed as a felony carrying up to five years in prison depending on the underlying case, according to legal guidance published by West Palm Beach Defense. Bond forfeiture and bench warrants like the ones that led to Jacobsen's arrest are standard consequences when a defendant misses a scheduled court date, per Florida Statute § 903.26.
All Pro Automotive had previously operated at 5174 First Coast Highway in Fernandina Beach before the primary facility closed and the business moved to a new location, per the same reporting. Customers reached out to law enforcement after finding the First Coast Highway facility closed and getting no response to repeated phone calls, according to 104.5 WOKV. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office says it has received multiple calls from customers who could not locate their vehicles.
Sheriff's Office Steps In to Help Owners Track Down Their Cars
Deputies with the Nassau County Sheriff's Office are working to identify the owners of the vehicles found left at the storage site, and personnel are offering guidance to help affected customers recover their property. Vehicle owners can reach the agency's non-emergency line at 904-225-5174, or contact Deputy Michael Cook directly by email at [email protected].
The investigation may not be finished expanding. Nassau County Sheriff's Office investigators are actively seeking information on whether additional vehicle owners may have been victimized beyond the initial batch of cars found at the storage lot, according to News4JAX. It remains unclear how many total customers may ultimately come forward.
A Shop With a History of Sudden, Unannounced Closures
All Pro Automotive first opened in 1997 as a family-owned, full-service repair and restoration shop on First Coast Highway, according to Amelia Island's commercial directory, Locals' Favorites. But this is not the first time the business has vanished on its customers without warning. In May 2017, the shop permanently closed with no notice to customers after being served an eviction notice by its property management company, a shutdown that came after court records showed the business had also been served an eviction notice back in 2003, Action News Jax reported at the time.
What Options Do Stranded Car Owners Have
Vehicle owners whose cars remain sitting in a storage lot face real financial pressure on the clock. Under Florida Statutes § 713.78, unclaimed vehicles left on commercial property or storage sites can be subject to towing and storage liens, and unpaid fees left unresolved within statutory deadlines can eventually lead to a public auction sale. Separately, Florida's Motor Vehicle Repair Act allows vehicle owners to post a bond with the clerk of the circuit court to force the immediate release of a car being unlawfully withheld by a repair shop, a legal remedy outlined by the Florida Attorney General's office at My Florida Legal.
Legal analysts note that disputes like these often become complicated once they move into civil court, since shop owners and customers frequently litigate over whether repair work was properly authorized and completed, even when a shop fails to provide the written estimates required by law. For now, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office is focused on the more immediate task of matching abandoned vehicles to their rightful owners and walking customers through the recovery process, following the kind of standardized property protocols that Florida agencies use under Chapter 705 to inventory and return unclaimed personal property, according to legal notices published by the Nassau County Record.
