Santa Rosa car mechanic sentenced for bilking victims of $350,000

A Santa Rosa mechanic, who tried to avoid arrest by leaving California, was sentenced Monday for bilking elderly victims of more than $350,000 with offers to work on their classic cars.

Suede Lee Barganski, 57, was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison after being convicted of six felony charges, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.

“Mr. Barganski took advantage of his trusting customers for more than a decade and needed to be held accountable,” Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement. “Once he completes his sentence, we look forward to enforcing the court’s order that he pay full restitution to all Sonoma County victims.”

Prosecutors charged Barganski with 43 felony counts that mostly included allegations of grand theft or theft from an elder.

On July 8, he pleaded no contest to two counts each of grand theft and theft from an elder, plus one count each of failing to appear in court on a felony charge, and impersonating to obtain credit, goods and services.

According to a presentence report filed by the Sonoma County Probation Department, Barganski made no statements outside of acknowledging he’s willing to pay restitution.

“It’s part of what I have to do,” he said, according to the report.

Officials say he victimized at least 22 people over 10 years while operating RadRods of Norcal in Santa Rosa, a classic car repair and restoration business.

A criminal complaint lays out allegations and it shows one victim lost as much as $72,000.

They asked him to repair cars from as far back as the 1930s, and months and years passed without work being done even though Barganski had been paid.

Victims found their vehicles abandoned in a field south of Santa Rosa. They were in various states of disrepair with dismantled parts missing or stored in compartments.

“On at least two occasions, defendant forged vehicle titles and sold the cars to unsuspecting buyers,” the District Attorney’s Office reported Monday.

In a previous interview, Santa Rosa resident Kamala Dyer told The Press Democrat her parents hired Barganski in 2016 for upgrades to a 1947 Lincoln sedan. In exchange, he took her father’s 1972 Ford truck, which was equivalent to about $10,000 of work.

Three years later, the sedan was found in a Penngrove field and it was missing its engine and transmission.

In a victim impact statement filed on behalf of her late father, Ward Denis Quinn, Dyer told court officials Barganski’s “exploitation” took a serious toll on Quinn’s mental, physical and emotional well-being.

“My parents believed in Suede’s promises, only to be met with lies and deception that left them feeling deeply betrayed,” Dyer wrote.

Another victim, Patricia Davidson, wrote in a statement Barganski was supposed to restore her 1971 Cadillac Eldorado, charged her thousands of dollars and had her car for five years.

“When I did get the car back, the repairs were incomplete and the odometer had advanced over 6,000 miles,” Davidson wrote. “… The sadness and financial hardship Suede has caused me, and others, is devastating and life changing. He stole more than my money; he stole years of my life dealing with his excuses and flat out lies.”

The illegal sales led a Santa Rosa police investigation in October 2019 and Barganski was arrested in March 2020.

Prosecutors filed charges against him and he attended court proceedings before disappearing in 2022.

He fled to Idaho and committed similar behavior before moving to Texas, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Barganski was arrested in Aransas County, Texas, in October 2022 and extradited to California.

At the time of the arrest, the presentence report states, Barganski lived in an RV park and told investigators he was self-employed and “I help people.”

He later added he worked in construction, painting and “fabrication” since at least 2004, the report stated.

“When asked if he has any current significant financial debts, the defendant replied, ‘I wouldn’t know,’” according to the presentence report.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi