NEW WINDSOR - The owner of a local auto-body shop who is a former town Zoning Board member has been charged with falsifying records to keep a Porsche left in his shop after the owner died, according to town police.

Patrick Torpey, 53, owns of 20th Century Towing and 21st Century Auto Body on Union Avenue in New Windsor and was a member of the town’s Zoning Board until December 2016. He was arrested by the New Windsor Police Department after an eight-month investigation, according to a police press release.

Torpey had a 1978 Porsche 911 at his business for repairs in 2012, when the owner died. Torpey then filed a garageman's lein with the state Department of Motor Vehicles, including false information on required documents, according to police.

Police said this created a new title of ownership under Torpey’s name even though the owner’s wife was looking for the vehicle as the administrator of the deceased’s estate. Torpey purposely hid the vehicle from the woman to keep it for himself, police said.

The car was found in the summer of 2016, revealing Torpey’s fraud, police said. The Porsche was recovered from a garage at Torpey’s home and is being held by the police department.

Torpey was charged Tuesday morning with one count each of third-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree perjury; five counts of first-degree falsifying business records and four counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, all felonies.

In 2008, Torpey was charged with insurance fraud for allegedly overcharging Geico Insurance on four jobs he performed at the request of town police. In 2009, the charges were dismissed.

Torpey was arraigned Tuesday morning before Town Justice Richard Thorpe and released in lieu of $2,500 bail, according to the release.