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AMERICAN FORK -- An American Fork man has been arrested for running a dentist's office in his basement without a license for 10 years.
The Deseret News reports police arrested Raul Garay, 56, on Wednesday. Court records say when police inspected Garay's basement, they found a dentist's chair and dentist's tools that were dirty and in some cases rusted.
Garay told police he would see six to seven patients a week, doing everything from checkups to extractions. A police affidavit indicates Garay told police he only worked on Hispanics who would pay in cash.
The Deseret News reports when police asked about people getting sick from the uncleanliness, Garay said there had been a few problems with minor infections.
He now faces 25 counts of practicing dentistry without a license.
The reaction from multiple neighbors to the arrest of Garay is about the same -- shocked and surprised.
"I can't believe that was going on two houses away," said neighbor Michelle Jensen.
Jensen said she knows the family a little bit. She said they mostly keep to themselves and they've never invited her inside their home.
Jensen told KSL Newsradio it's common to see various cars in front of the home, and said that should have tipped her off that something was up.
"We ignored it I guess," said Jensen. "We shouldn't have but we did."
The Utah Attorney General's Office is leading the investigation. It told KSL Newsradio this was part of a bigger operation, but won't comment on the arrest at this point.
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Story compiled with contributions from Randall Jeppesen and The Deseret News.
